


Life in Every Key

by beesandlebrunes



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Engagement, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Minor Character Death, Multi, Single Parents, johnny is jeno and taeyong's adopted father, not on any of nct's end, taeil is hyuck's dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-06-27 17:03:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15689667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beesandlebrunes/pseuds/beesandlebrunes
Summary: Screw Mark Lee and his stupid environmental club and stupid “Vote Green” lapel pin and stupid “Save Our Trees” demonstration that blocked the only road that lead out of Donghyuck’s high school.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> sorry i suck ASS at writing summaries anyway here we are. some things to note:
> 
> \- tagged minor character death because donghyuck's mom is dead  
> \- taeil is hyuck's dad and johnny is taeyong and jeno's dad  
> \- all of nct are there just the ones tagged have bigger roles
> 
> peace

Screw Mark Lee and his stupid environmental club and stupid _“Vote Green”_ lapel pin and stupid _“Save Our Trees”_ demonstration that blocked the only road that lead out of Donghyuck’s high school.

Donghyuck clicked his jaw, tapping the fingers of his left hand on top of his steering wheel, while Mark Lee transmitted noise through a megaphone. The student body vice president’s mouth was moving, but Donghyuck had learned how to block out whatever he was saying the day they met. The student body president, Jeno Lee, held up a picket sign that said “SAY NO TO DEFORESTATION” in big, red letters. At least, that’s what Donghyuck thought it said; the sign wasn’t wide enough to fit “deforestation” in, so instead of breaking it into smaller parts, Jeno Lee decided to cram it all in, the “deforesta” much bigger than the “tion”. Their sheeple — that’s what Donghyuck, Jaemin, and Chenle called Jeno and Mark Lee’s modest fanclub of twelve — resembled Jeno Lee’s picket sign, squeezing together on the pavement several feet behind them. Donghyuck had half the mind to blame the school district as well for only having _one_ exit, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that at the time.

The clock on his dashboard said it was 4:40, already twenty minutes since Donghyuck left his study session with Jaemin, who’d had to stay for play rehearsal. He was the third car in the line, and judging by the litany of car horns, he wasn’t the only one pissed.

Exhausted, Donghyuck hit his head against the headrest. “God damn you, Mark Lee.” He jabbed the button to release his seatbelt and flung open the door, and the early autumn heat that rushed in only agitated him further. The two made eye contact at the moment Donghyuck slammed his door shut, and Mark Lee came forward, meeting him in the middle. “Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck inhaled slowly, and exhaled just as slowly. Normally, when he did that, he closed his eyes, but he had no intention of making himself vulnerable in the face of an enemy. He put his palms together in a perpendicular gesture that allowed him to imagine he was chopping off Mark Lee’s head. He spoke at a steady, even pace so the jackass would understand. “Listen, flatass. It’s Friday. I’ve endured hell for five days and I just spent an hour and a half talking about _Hamlet_. I’m tired. I want to go home so I can lay in my bed in peaceful solitude. Maybe listen to music. Shit, I don’t know. However,” Donghyuck stepped closer, now in Mark Lee’s bubble, pointing a finger at the other boy’s chest but not touching him, “a dweeb in a blazer and khaki shorts is preventing me from doing so. How about we do something to rectify the situation?”

Mark Lee raised a thin eyebrow, and Donghyuck had to push down the urge to tell him to fucking use eyebrow gel. And then the kid said, “I’m surprised you know any words that aren’t ‘shit,’ ‘fuck,’ or ‘damn.’”

It was almost cute, Donghyuck thought, the way the guy tried to puff out his chest and be intimidating. As if he’d ever been able to scare Donghyuck off. “And I’m surprised a clown like you got accepted into college. Isn’t the world full of surprises?” Donghyuck leaned in even closer, so they were almost chest to chest, the toes of their shoes touching. Mark Lee’s hand came up to grip the side of Donghyuck’s shoulder in warning, but it only spurred Donghyuck on. “I won’t ask again. Get out of my way, Mark Lee, before I hurt your stuck-up pretty boy face.”

That got the reaction Donghyuck had been hoping for. Mark Lee scowled, pushing Donghyuck’s shoulder as he stepped away, only enough force to make distance between them. He exchanged a look with Jeno, who mouthed something back then turned to address the sheeple. “Let’s move it down to Main Street, everybody.”

The tiny crowd began to disperse. On the way back to his car, Donghyuck brushed his fingers through his caramel-colored hair, knowing people were watching and that the sun would make his tanned skin look brilliant.

 

“Got stuck in traffic on the way out of school,” Donghyuck griped when he joined Jaemin, Renjun, and Chenle’s group call later that night. He’d stuck true to his word, laid in bed for a couple hours while he listened to his Purity Ring playlist until his friends finally got to their respective homes, Jaemin joining Renjun at the latter’s home. “You’ll never guess—”

“Mark and Jeno’s tree protest?” Renjun said before biting into a celery stick Jaemin had poked the side of his mouth with. “Thanks, babe.”

The couple ignored Donghyuck and Chenle’s groans, which grew louder when Renjun pecked Jaemin on the cheek and Jaemin pulled his boyfriend halfway onto his lap. “Anyway,” Renjun said at the same time that Jaemin said, “You got stuck in Mark’s demonstration?”

“He’s so annoying!” Donghyuck adjusted himself so he was lying on his side, propped up on one elbow. “He was out there in a blazer. An honest-to-god blazer.”

“We know,” Renjun said through Jaemin and Chenle’s giggling.

Donghyuck ignored him. “And khaki shorts! Who wears khaki shorts? Is this a party on Martha’s Vineyard?”

Renjun brought his face close enough to his webcam that he took up his and Jaemin’s whole window. “We _know_. We saw him at school. But it’s fine, we know you love talking about him. Keep going.”

The three of them snickered when Donghyuck scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I do not. He’s an idiot.”

“An idiot whose name you can’t keep out of your mouth.”

“Shut up, Renjun. Just because you confessed your undying love for Jaemin by continuously insulting him doesn’t mean I like Mark fuckin' Lee.”

Renjun smiled around another piece of celery. “Suit yourself.”

“What even happened to make you guys hate each other?” Chenle asked.

“His conception,” Donghyuck said through gritted teeth.

Jaemin grinned lazily. He’d always thought the feud between Donghyuck and Mark Lee and the undying emotional suffering the student VP’s existence brought Donghyuck were top tier entertainment. “Nothing happened, they’re just fundamentally incompatible. Hyuck’s words, not mine. _I_ personally think they’d get along swimmingly if they just tried.”

Donghyuck spluttered. “ ‘Swimmingly?’ Me and Mark Lee? Renjun, is he okay? Is he running a fever? Is his pulse regular?”

“Anyway,” Renjun said with a roll of his eyes, “are we all still going to Yukhei’s party tonight? Jaemin and I wanna dance.”

Donghyuck picked at his chipped nail polish and pretended to think about it. “And watch Yukhei flirt with Chan and Vernon all night? I’ll pass.”

“Aw, still got a crush on Xuxi?” Jaemin cooed, laughing with Chenle while Renjun gagged and Donghyuck rolled his eyes.

Yukhei was Renjun’s cousin: a senior all-rounder who played basketball, was a drum major in the band, earned straight-A’s, _and_ spoke four languages fluently. He was a good few inches taller than Donghyuck, almost a half foot, and made eighth grade Donghyuck feel small in a good way. To make things worse, he was the friendliest, funniest guy in their school, after maybe Seungkwan. Several years back, Donghyuck would have jumped at the opportunity to hang out with Yukhei, but that middle school crush had long since faded.

“No, I don’t have a crush on him anymore—”

“Ah,” Jaemin said, and Donghyuck _really_ didn’t like the mischief sparkling in Jaemin’s eyes, “that’s right. You like Mark Lee now.”

His friends’ laughter — mostly Chenle’s — mocked him through his laptop speaker. Donghyuck scowled. “I’ll pick you guys up at nine.” He shut his laptop without even bothering to exit the call and flopped back against his pillows with a pout.

Because it was only a quarter past six, Donghyuck figured he had a good half hour to lounge in bed before getting ready. If he was going to go to Wong Yukhei’s party, he might as well look good. Hanging out with Chenle all night while Renjun and Jaemin made out in a corner wasn’t appealing, especially considering Chenle always found his way to the other Chinese exchange students and Donghyuck hardly knew Chinese. Maybe he’d run into Kangmin, the cute, tall boy on the soccer team who sat in front of him in physics and always flirted with him in the few minutes they had before class started.

Outside his room, the front door opened and closed quietly, which meant his dad was home. He listened to the soft patter of his dad’s footsteps and waited for the knock on his bedroom door.

“Come in,” Donghyuck said.

The door cracked open, and his dad’s face poked through. “Hi, baby. How was school?”

“Same old,” Donghyuck said, shifting to make room for his dad to sit on the bed. “How was work?”

“Same old.” His dad smiled. “Irene noona says hello.”

“Tell her I said hey.”

“Will do.”

He looked tired. Donghyuck’s dad worked two jobs; he’d picked up the second right before Donghyuck entered high school and justified it as a way to make sure Donghyuck could go to college without having to take out a big loan. The first was a simple 9-5 accounting position for an airline, the second private and group guitar lessons at the music academy downtown in the evenings. It was actually rare for him to be home before nine o’clock, but once or twice every month he’d come home around six or seven in the evening due to canceled lessons. On those nights, Donghyuck usually stayed home so they could eat dinner together then pop a movie into the player. It was for that reason that Donghyuck almost canceled on his friends, but his dad looked tired enough that Donghyuck knew he’d turn in by eight.

His dad’s smile faltered for a second, and Donghyuck sat up, anticipating bad news. It wasn’t rare for him to worry — especially about Donghyuck — but he was hesitant to say it, which _was_ rare. It meant he was scared of how Donghyuck would react. It was a nauseatingly familiar situation. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Donghyuck didn’t say anything, hands going numb while a dozen different things his dad could say filled his head. He had cancer. He got laid off. He got a third job. He had some other deadly illness.

His dad took a deep breath and looked at Donghyuck worriedly, and Donghyuck’s first thought was _it’s cancer._ “I’ve been seeing someone.”

 _What_. Donghyuck stayed silent, which evidently only made his dad more anxious, and he had the tendency to ramble when he was anxious.

“I think I really like him, but I want you to meet him first because it’s important to me that you like him, too. I don’t want to get into anything too serious if you don’t get along. He has kids too, one your age and one a few years older, just graduated college, actually. But I asked if it could just be the three of us, you, me, and him, because I didn’t want to overwhelm you with too many new people at once.”

“Oh,” Donghyuck said, when it didn’t seem like his dad was going to say anything else. His dad’s face fell and Donghyuck’s stomach immediately twisted in guilt. He didn’t want his dad to think he couldn’t have a relationship because of Donghyuck, didn’t want him to be limited because of Donghyuck. “A boyfriend! Wow.”

His dad gnawed at his lip. “Yeah. Is that okay?”

“Yeah! Yeah. It’s okay, of course it’s okay.” Donghyuck grasped onto his dad’s arm with both hands. “Jeez, Dad. I thought you were gonna say you had, like, Stage Four ass cancer or something.”

The exaggeratedly horrified look on his dad’s face almost made Donghyuck laugh. “Ass cancer?”

“Like in your—” Donghyuck shook his head; that was _not_ the point, and he didn’t need that mental imagery “—You have a boyfriend! That’s awesome. When do you want me to meet him?”

Donghyuck watched his dad’s face light back up. “Next weekend, maybe? Saturday night? Here at our house? Are you busy?”

“Probably not.” Not true; Donghyuck was pretty sure he told Jiwoo and Olivia that he would go the mall with them on Saturday, but that could easily be rearranged.

“Okay! I’ll tell him.”

“Cool,” Donghyuck said quietly, hoping he sounded okay. He wanted so badly to be happy for his dad, whose only real family left was Donghyuck, and Donghyuck _was_ happy for him. But no amount of happiness could stop the churning in his gut.

Like always, his dad picked up on Donghyuck’s mood. His voice was gentle. “I’m not trying to replace her. You know that, right?”

Donghyuck could only nod. He dug his nails into his thighs, but soft hands pulled his away and held on tight. They sat there for a minute or two before Donghyuck’s mood lifted a little.

“Renjun wants me to go to his cousin’s party tonight. Is that cool?”

“Sure. Don’t drink and drive. Want me to help you get ready?”

“Uh, no thanks, I think I’m good,” Donghyuck said, recalling the disastrous occasion in which he’d let his dad pick his outfit. “I love you, Dad.”

His dad squeezed Donghyuck’s hands in his. “I love you, too, Hyuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do i build all my fics around unrealistic dramatic situations but also include incredibly serious themes
> 
> i have about 10k of this written as of right now and the entire fic is planned out so lets go commitment!
> 
> talk to me  
> twitter @CLSPHOBLC  
> curiouscat @2ji  
> tumblr @jaemyu


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for homophobia in this chapter! if that makes you uncomfortable, skip from "yo mark" to "once upstairs..."

Mark woke up on Saturday morning at six a.m. on the dot. His body had gotten into a habit of waking early without an alarm — not intentional, just a result of Mark’s inability to sleep for more than a few hours at a time and the fact that he never went to bed earlier than two in the morning. Between his classes, Student Council, tennis, the environmental club, and college applications, he had upwards of ten hours of responsibilities to finish outside of school every day. This made it virtually impossible to have a real social life other than the occasional party, but because Jeno and Tzuyu were in Student Council and Jisung was on the tennis team, Mark at least got to see his closest friends on a regular basis in a setting other than the classroom.

Mark was out of it that morning. He’d woken from a dream, and Lee Donghyuck of all people had been in it. He sat up, rubbing his eyes as he recalled the contents of his dream and shuddered. At least he’d woken up before…

There was no need to dwell on it more than that. Mark looked outside, where the only light came from the street lamp. The time of year when the sun didn’t come out until well into first period was approaching, and Mark loved it. It made less of a difference on school days, but on the weekend he got the chance to witness the sun inch above the horizon and peek through the houses and trees. That’s what he did on weekends: he left the house first thing in the morning and went for a run. It was his favorite way to start the day, and morning was his favorite time to run. It jump-started his mind and body and let him begin his responsibilities with a sense of productivity.

It was chilly outside that morning, but the sky was clear and the air was dry, so Mark didn’t mind it. The breeze kind of felt nice on his skin, anyway. He put on his headphones and started on the route he always took, straight out of the neighborhood and toward Washtenaw Avenue. The sidewalk ended when he reached the end of his neighborhood, and he reveled in the crunch of the crumbling asphalt under his feet.

Washtenaw Ave was about a 20-minute run from his house. He usually turned around before he reached the avenue, but on certain days that he felt he needed the extra time of solitude, he ran down the avenue. He didn’t feel even close to ready to head back home, so he turned down the avenue and started toward the expressway that essentially marked the city limit.

There were only a handful of people out and about that early. Most of the stores on the strip didn’t open until nine or ten, and even later on Sunday, so it was common for Mark’s only company to be the few cars that passed on the the way to the expressway. It was a pleasant change of pace for Mark, who didn’t get much alone time besides doing homework in his bedroom. His morning runs were the only routine pleasure he allowed himself.

A woman in her late twenties was jogging in the opposite direction. She paid no mind to Mark until they got within speaking distance, and she gave Mark an odd look-over without returning his “good morning.” It had long since stopped bothering him when people he crossed paths with ignored him, but he couldn’t help but wonder what it was that made the woman look at him so strangely. Maybe because he looked young to be out by himself.

He passed the university’s spirit shop, where every inch of its windows were covered by university apparel. The University of Michigan was most of his classmates’ top choice, with the perk of it being a renowned school and right in town. Jeno was interested in their sports medicine program, while Tzuyu was interested in studying public affairs. Both of them may as well have been guaranteed to be accepted, since they were both in the top ten of their class.

Mark himself liked Michigan. It was — in his biased opinion — the best undergraduate college in the state, and one of the best in the country. It was a source of pride for Ann Arbor residents, Mark included. Downtown Ann Arbor’s vibrancy and color was a plus, too. But it was a little too close to home for him, and his parents had already decided he was attending UPenn, their alma mater. Mark struggled to understand, but it was important to his parents that Mark attended a “good” school, which really meant a school that they thought was worth bragging about. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he _didn’t_ get into UPenn, but he knew he didn’t want to go to the university in their city, so he had to research his other options. He wouldn’t even consider Michigan State University, Michigan’s top rival. That didn’t leave him any other in-state options that his parents would deem acceptable, but he didn’t know a lot about out-of-state schools that weren’t the Ivies or Big Ten.

Jeno and Tzuyu were the only people he was comfortable enough with to talk about his frustrations surrounding college applications, but he tried to keep it to a minimum so he wouldn’t kill their own excitement. It had hurt Jeno’s feelings at first when Mark refused to go to Michigan, but as the principal’s son, he knew what it was like for Mark to feel trapped by his parents. Tzuyu’s parents were overbearing like Mark’s, though she was lucky enough that her goals lined up well with her parents’ expectations. Meanwhile, Mark wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. His parents expected him to go to law school eventually, and for a while he was on board with that path. But as he grew closer to graduation, law school sounded less and less appealing.

He stopped at the intersection by the expressway to catch his breath. He could continue into the next city, but he needed to get home and shower so he could make it to Jeno’s house in time to start their AP Physics project before Jeno had to go to work, so he turned around.

His mother was up by the time he walked through the front door, reading TIME on her iPad while she had her morning coffee. “Good morning,” Mark said.

“Good morning, sweetie,” she began to say, but she froze and gasped when she saw him. “Mark!”

“What?” Mark frowned, feeling self-conscious.

His mother got up, walked over to Mark, and immediately grasped his shoulders. “Are those _hickies_ on your neck?”

Mark’s hand flew to his neck. “What?” he said again, panicking. He ran to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. There were only a couple marks, but they were obvious, too high up to be hidden by his shirt. “No, no, what?”

“Where did you get those? At Lucas’s party?”

“I—I don’t…” Mark trailed off as he pieced it all together. The party. His teammates. _Donghyuck_. “That wasn’t a dream,” he said to himself in horror, and as he replayed some of the previous night in his head, he realized he needed to get out of his house.

“ _Mark_ —”

“I really gotta go, Mom! Jeno and I have to work on a project for school. I’ll see you later.” Mark bolted out of the bathroom and nearly fell as he scrambled up the stairs, snatched his backpack and left.

 

Jeno opened the door with a tired grimace that turned into irritation when Mark pushed his way inside. “Dude, you’re early. And you smell.”

Mark didn’t respond, going upstairs to Jeno’s room followed by a confused Jeno. He slipped his backpack off his shoulder and started pacing back and forth in Jeno’s room. Jeno joined him, closing his bedroom door and standing in front of it while he watched Mark. So many thoughts were going through Mark’s head, every minute of the night before supplying itself to Mark for perusal, memory preserved by the fact that he didn’t have a single drink. And of course none of it was a dream, but Mark’s tired brain must have wanted so badly for it to _not_ be real that he pretended it was. He wasn’t sure where to begin, so he started at the end. He stood still and faced Jeno, then pointed at his neck. “My mom saw these this morning.”

If Mark weren’t freaking out, he would’ve thought the way Jeno’s eyes widened was funny. He sat down at Jeno’s desk, and the other sat on the edge of his bed. “I’m going to die, Jeno. If not by my mom’s hand, then from shame.”

“What did she say?”

“Uh, not a lot? I kind of panicked and just left. But she was panicking a little, too. Fuck, I’m going to _die_.”

“Mark, oh my god.” Jeno laughed. “Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic? She was probably only surprised. I bet she’s just gonna give you the sex talk when you get home.”

Mark looked at Jeno desperately. “Jeno, you don’t understand. It’s not _just_ my mom I’m worried about.”

The confused look appeared on Jeno’s features again. “Okay… tell me what happened then.”

Mark groaned and dropped his face into his hands. “So, we went to the party.”

 

The party was already fairly crowded when Mark, Jeno, Tzuyu, and Jisung got there. Cars littered the street, so they’d had to walk a couple blocks to Lucas’s house. The house was huge, bigger than Jeno’s and definitely bigger than Mark’s, and sat a quarter of a mile uphill from the lake with stairs leading down the dunes and shore. Some Chinese hip-hop song pulsed from outside the house, and it became near deafening when they went inside, where the lights were dimmed to near darkness. The damp, fall air sat high between the walls, a result of all the windows being open. Mark felt like he was shrinking between Jeno, Jisung, and Tzuyu, who were already drawing attention around them.

The thing about Mark’s same-age friends was that, while they were awkward, preppy student council nerds before anything else, Jeno and Tzuyu both had an aura that simply attracted people to them. Jeno was tall and had a solid build, all broad shoulders and a sharp, alluring face. That night he looked stupidly handsome in just a black t-shirt that clung to his chest and a pair of jeans. Tzuyu was equally tall with long, tan legs and a soft natural beauty. Mark didn’t think he was that bad himself, but he just didn’t carry the same magnetic energy that Jeno and Tzuyu did. It was something he’d always envied; as an activist, it was vital to be a charming leader, but Mark lacked the charisma and the looks.

They found Lucas in the kitchen entertaining a group of people. They’d heard him first, his unmistakable laugh making itself known even over the music. When he saw them, he waved and shouted a greeting. “Yo, Tzuyu’s here! Vern isn’t the prettiest bitch in the room anymore. What’s up?”

Tzuyu rolled her eyes, then said, having to raise her voice to be heard, “Have you seen Yerim?”

Lucas thought for a moment. “I don’t think she’s here yet! Want a drink while you’re waiting? You too, Mark, you look like you could do with a good beer.”

Before Mark could decline, Jeno said, “Mark’s DD, but I’ll have a drink.”

“ ‘ _A_ ’ drink?” Lucas repeated. “No offense, babe, but I’ve never seen you leave a party a drop less than fucked up.”

Strange that Lucas paid enough attention to Jeno to notice that, and stranger that he’d called Jeno babe, considering they weren’t even friends. Jeno must have thought the same thing, because he stared at Lucas with wide eyes for the briefest moment before shoving his hands into his front pockets and looking at the floor. Mark had seen that body language on Jeno enough times to know that his face was red.

But Lucas just shook his head and started mixing a couple of drinks for Tzuyu and Jeno. “Even the student body president needs to get shitfaced every weekend just to survive high school. Fucked up world, huh?”

Mark hummed his agreement then realized there was no way anyone heard it.

“Can I have some?” Jisung asked, lifting onto his toes to peer over Jeno’s shoulder.

“No,” Jeno, Tzuyu, and Mark said at the same time.

Jisung glared at them. “I was asking Lucas.”

“As if. Sorry, kid,” Lucas said.

“I’m not even that much younger than you guys.”

“Little dude, we’re all graduating in seven months. You’ve still got three and a half years.” Lucas reached into the cooler and set a bottle of gatorade down on the counter in front of Jisung.

Jisung grumbled something about _how’s a senior gonna act like my mom_ but took the gatorade anyway, then said, “Speaking of graduating — Vernon hyung, you graduated already right? What’s State like?”

That sent Vernon rambling about college life, what it was like adjusting and how it was infinitely better than high school. Vernon was a tall, shaggy-haired guy who was smarter than he looked, the previous year’s valedictorian. He was attending MSU about an hour away for engineering. The current seniors listened intently, aside from maybe Lucas, who was more focused on staring at Vernon like an idiot and laughing at everything he said. Mark, however, always liked hearing about their seniors’ experiences after leaving high school and moving off to college. The idea of finally getting away from high school and adolescence in general was the main force pushing him through his last year in secondary.

After several minutes of listening to Vernon talk about his engineering classes, Jisung said, “That’s all cool and stuff, hyung, but I just wanna know if the parties are lit.”

“Obviously not too lit if he’s at a high school party,” Jeno said, knuckling Jisung behind the ear.

Vernon rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Nah, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.” He nodded to Lucas.

“Nice,” Tzuyu said. “We’re here despite him.”

Lucas groaned and whined at Tzuyu in Chinese, launching a back-and-forth that neither Mark, Jeno, nor Vernon could understand but still found somewhat entertaining. Shortly thereafter, a small group of girls entered the kitchen and stole Tzuyu’s attention.

“Yerim! Hi!” she said. Mark watched the way she straightened and started playing with her hands and exchanged a look with Jeno.

Yerim, Jungeun, and Siyeon joined the six of them, Yerim coming over to stand next to Tzuyu. Siyeon, who was student council secretary, said hello to Mark and Jeno.

“I heard you guys got into it with Donghyuck after school,” she said.

“Him, not me,” Jeno said, pointing to Mark.

Lucas cocked his head. “You fought Donghyuck?”

Mark glared at Jeno, who only shrugged. Mark sighed. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

Lucas looked like he wanted to push further — _he’s Donghyuck’s best friend’s cousin_ , Mark’s brain supplied, _of course he wants details_ — but dropped it anyway. At least, that’s what Mark thought, before the boy in question strolled in with behind Renjun, Renjun’s boyfriend, and another boy whose name Mark couldn’t remember. He wasn’t paying attention, too busy texting, and Mark thought that was his best chance to slip away unnoticed. Unfortunately, at the sound of Lucas’s voice bellowing _Renjunnie!_ , Donghyuck looked up and locked eyes with Mark. He rolled his eyes and turned to his friend, the taller one with an arm draped around Renjun, and whispered something in his ear.

A hand on Mark’s shoulder pulled his gaze away from Donghyuck, and Jeno was staring down at him worriedly. “Don’t pay attention to him. Wanna go downstairs?”

Although Mark knew all they’d find in the basement were horny couples and weed, he’d rather be there than in Donghyuck’s presence, so he nodded and followed Jeno out of the kitchen.

“What about Jisung?” Mark said.

Jeno waved a hand. “He’ll be fine with Lucas and Vernon hyung.”

Mark was right, mostly. Lucas’s basement was darker and a little bit quieter with just the main floor’s music carrying itself through the walls, and everyone down there was either high or engaged in some brand of sexual activity. However, he wasn’t expecting one thing: his teammates.

“Yo Mark!” he heard an artificially deep voice call from behind him. He groaned as he recognized the speaker in no time, and Jeno gave Mark a look of sympathy.

“Hey, Minjun,” Mark said before he was even finished turning around.

His teammate, who was unironically wearing a shirt that said “Real men wear pink,” was smiling at him with eyes that were bloodshot to the level of athletic suspension. Minjun was one of the friendlier guys on the team; while he wasn’t particularly interested in being Mark’s friend, he seemed to think of Mark as a charity project, the gay student council nerd who had no friends. Thus, he made an effort to try and include Mark in everything the rest of the team did, which Mark supposed would be nice if not for Minjun’s odd pity and the rest of the team’s poorly masked disdain.

“You made it!” Minjun said. “Come smoke with us dude!”

Mark flicked his eyes over to the couch to see who exactly were the “us” Minjun was referring to, and sure enough, the majority of the team were sitting together. They sat around in a half circle passing a joint, and while the whole scene screamed _expulsion_ , saying so wouldn’t get Mark anything but trouble. Which he would probably also find if he _did_ accept their offer to smoke, as he didn’t trust them not to tattle to their coach. Luckily, Mark had a pretty good excuse. “I would, man, but I’m driving tonight.” He held up his car keys as proof. “Jeno’s dad’d kill me if he found out.”

He’d hoped that would be enough for them to leave him and Jeno alone. It wasn’t. “All right, well, at least come sit with us then! Maybe Jeno here wants to try.”

 _Doubtful_ , Mark thought, but before he could say as much, Jeno said, “Yeah, why not?”

Mark not-so-discreetly elbowed Jeno in the side, hoping his teammates weren’t sober enough to care.

“It’s just your team,” Jeno muttered loud enough for only Mark to hear. “It’ll be fine. Besides, look who’s next to Jinyoung.”

Mark followed Jeno’s pointed look and saw Koeun sitting on the other side of Jinyoung, looking bored and too sober while she scrolled through her phone, and his breath hitched. Koeun was on the girl’s competitive dance team and had lived next to Mark since they were young. Because they were mostly in different circles, they were more friendly acquaintances than actual friends, but he’d had a small on-and-off crush on her for years, never having acted on it because she seemed to always have a boyfriend. This time, she was finally single, but Mark knew Jinyoung was interested in her. Mark wasn’t sure why Koeun liked Jinyoung — he was handsome, toned, and relatively popular amongst the girl athletes, but Mark had thought Koeun was above Jinyoung’s crude attitude and general disregard for others, especially Mark.

Before Mark could react, Jeno was pushing him into the group. There wasn’t any more space on the couches, so they both sat on the floor, Mark a couple feet away from Koeun. He was too nervous to make eye contact, so he focused his gaze on the carpet and swayed a little to the Nitty Scott song that was playing.

It wasn’t until Koeun tapped him on the shoulder that he finally looked up. “Hi Mark,” she said. Jinyoung blew out a stream of smoke, making Koeun wrinkle her nose. “We haven’t seen each other in a while.”

“We haven’t,” Mark agreed.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Jinyoung watching him. He didn’t want to start anything, so he decided to let Koeun lead the conversation. She asked him about college apps; both of them were planning on applying Early Action to some schools, which meant their deadlines were fast approaching, two months earlier than regular decision. Like him, she wanted to go out-of-state for college, specifically Barnard College. She seemed set on majoring in dance, explaining the pros and cons of the different programs at different schools. Mark wanted to enjoy talking to her, but he forced himself to tread lightly, knowing Jinyoung was only waiting for Mark to give him a good enough reason to strike.

Next to him, Jeno seemed to be getting along with Mark’s teammates as they passed another joint back and forth. Mark wondered if they knew that Jeno was gay. Probably not — Jeno was even more straight passing than Mark was, with his Supreme hoodies and old rock band tees.

At some point, Jeno excused himself, telling Mark he had to use the bathroom. Mark tried to use that as an excuse to leave, but Minjun grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. “C’mon,” Minjun slurred, “have some fun with us.” The rest of the team agreed, though unenthusiastically. Jinyoung didn’t say anything.

Mark was certain there was no way this situation could possibly be fun. He searched for familiar faces around the room, but had no luck. He fidgeted at the knowledge that his teammates could do or say anything, and Mark would be alone and defenseless. If Jeno knew what happened with Jinyoung and how the tennis team treated Mark, he never would have left him with them, but Mark was too embarrassed to tell even his best friends. And besides, they usually didn’t bother him. They preferred ignoring him, so Jisung was the only person Mark could talk to.

“So, Mark,” Minjun started, waving around his beer bottle. “I’m just curious. Like, how the whole ‘being gay’ thing works.”

Mark frowned. He really wasn’t in the mood for Minjun’s drunken Q-and-A. “I like guys. That’s it. That’s how it works.”

“So you like hot guys?”

“I guess? I don’t — that’s not my only criteria when it comes to attraction, but basically?”

“So you ever check us out?”

Mark’s mouth went dry. Somehow, he didn’t expect the conversation to go in that direction, leaving him at a loss for words. This was the most any of his teammates, besides Jinyoung, had verbally acknowledged Mark’s sexuality. “I—”

“That’s a yes, then!” Minjun cheered, and most of their teammates were equally amused, obviously influenced by their high. Mark didn’t dare look at Jinyoung.

“No! I don’t. I don’t,” Mark said, voice coming out in breaths.

“Yes, he does,” Jinyoung spoke up. “I’ve seen him. In the locker rooms.”

Mark finally looked up to meet Jinyoung’s eyes, and the coldness in them made his chest ache. He hated that even after eight months, things like this still hurt more coming from Jinyoung. He hated it so much that it inspired a burst of anger, strong enough for him to begin to say, “At least I’m not—”

Mark stopped himself before the words could come out. As upset as he was, he wouldn’t out Jinyoung to their teammates. The rest of the sentence died in his throat, and Jinyoung’s gaze steeled. “Not what? Finish what you were gonna say, I dare you.”

By then, their teammates had stopped their jeering and were watching the scene unfold along with Koeun, who was visibly nervous. Mark swallowed. “Nothing,” he said, almost too quiet for anyone else to hear. He pushed onto his feet, praying the dizziness that came with standing up too fast wasn’t enough for him to black out. This time he made sure to leave around the back of the couch so that Minjun couldn’t yank him back down again.

Once upstairs, he didn’t know where he was going, but he figured any direction away from the basement and kitchen had to lead him out of the house. He turned the corner too fast and without looking, colliding into someone before he even realized they were there. “Sorry—” he started, at the same time that Lee Donghyuck said, “Watch it, Mark Lee.”

Of course. Of all the people Mark had to run into, it had to be Donghyuck. A little dazed, Mark watched Donghyuck rub his forehead while he gave Mark a look that for once, wasn’t a glare. He seemed irritated, which was always a given when Mark was around, but he wasn’t as harsh as usual. Donghyuck blinked hard, and that’s when Mark noticed how red they were. “Are you high?”

“Why?” Donghyuck said. “Are you gonna tell on me?”

“No,” Mark answered honestly. Donghyuck must have been expecting him to say _yes_ , because for once, the junior didn’t have a retort ready.

After a few seconds, Donghyuck narrowed his eyes. “Then why did you ask?”

“I was just asking. Your eyes are red.”

At that, Donghyuck looked away, and Mark swore he looked shy. Maybe it was the weed. He swayed a little, and Mark had to stop himself from reaching out to steady him. Or maybe he just needed to touch someone. “Do you need a ride home? Where are your friends?”

Donghyuck shrugged and stared down at his hands. “Chenle is talking to Sicheng and Renjun and Jaemin are… somewhere. I don’t know. Why do you want to know?”

“I just want to make sure you get home safe.”

Donghyuck’s tone and demeanor were quickly going from defensive to hostile. “Why?”

Mark sighed. “We don’t have to be friends for me to not want you to get hurt.”

“It’s not your job to take care of me.”

“I offered to drive you home, Donghyuck. That’s all. It hardly counts as ’taking care of you.’ I’d do it for anyone.”

“I _get_ it, you’re nice. Stop rubbing it in.”

Over the music, they heard a few shouts, and within a couple seconds, a drunk kid who was twice Donghyuck’s size barreled down the hallway. Confused by the noise, Donghyuck turned around, but couldn’t move out of the boy’s path in time to avoid him slamming into Donghyuck’s shoulder on his way to the bathroom. The impact would have knocked Donghyuck over if it weren’t for Mark, who caught him quick by the arm. Mark had only meant to pull him upright, but Donghyuck lost his balance and fell against Mark.

“Are you okay?” Mark asked, spitting out a strand of Donghyuck’s hair.

“Don’t touch me,” Donghyuck mumbled, but made no attempt to move away.

Mark pushed away from Donghyuck but kept a hand on his arm to make sure he didn’t fall again. “You don’t seem too good, maybe you should lie down.”

“I’m fine,” Donghyuck said. “Besides, you look like shit, too.”

Electing to ignore the comment, Mark said, “Come on, I’ll take you to Lucas’s room then see if I can find one of your friends.” Mark led Donghyuck gently in the direction that he _hoped_ were the stairs, looking out for one of the boys he’d seen him come with at the same time. When they found the stairs, Mark took his time helping Donghyuck up despite the latter insisting he was okay.

Donghyuck flopped down onto his side in Lucas’s bed, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. Mark stood there awkwardly for a minute, then said, “I’m gonna go find your friends now, okay?”

Donghyuck groaned. “Don’t bother.”

“You’re under the influence, you shouldn’t be alone.”

“It’s _fine_ ,” Donghyuck said into his hands. “I’ll be fine on my own. I just really don’t wanna see them right now.”

“Oh.” Mark frowned. Whatever Donghyuck wanted, he still didn’t think it was a good idea to leave him alone. He didn’t want to stick around and babysit Donghyuck, but he figured it was better than going back downstairs and risking seeing his teammates again. “I’ll just stay here with you then.”

Mark thought Donghyuck would refuse, but when he didn’t say anything, Mark made himself comfortable and sat in Lucas’s gaming chair. His phone buzzed in his back pocket, and when he checked it, he had a few texts from Jeno, all asking where he was and if he was okay. Mark shot off a quick reply, then leaned back and replayed what happened with Jinyoung and their teammates over in his head. It _was_ true that he’d checked out some of his teammates once or twice in the past, but that had been during his first couple years on the team. And he hadn’t actually been interested in any of them, especially not after getting to know them. The only one he’d ever actually liked was Jinyoung, but it had been months since they’d seen each other outside of a tennis context. He felt stupid for letting himself get trapped into a situation with Jinyoung like the one downstairs. He should have tried harder to leave when Jeno did. He should have stood his ground when Jeno agreed to sit with the team.

From Lucas’s bed, a voice groaned, “Can you stop?”

“I wasn’t doing anything,” Mark said.

Donghyuck rolled over and glared at Mark, but it still wasn’t as menacing as usual. “You’re thinking _so_ loud. It’s creating tension.”

They fell silent again after Mark didn’t say anything, but that didn’t mean he stopped worrying. After only a minute of quiet, Donghyuck said, annoyed, “What is your _problem_?”

Mark knew Donghyuck wasn’t actually asking. He knew this. But he’d never told anyone what happened, never even hinted at it. And Donghyuck was one of the last people Mark should have been talking to about his personal problems, but he felt like if he didn’t say it right then and there, he’d explode. “I just saw my ex.”

Donghyuck gave no response at first, but the glare was gone. When Mark didn’t continue, Donghyuck merely said, “Oh.” Mark thought they were about to return to silence, but then Donghyuck said, “Boys are dumb.”

Mark nodded.

“I mean, just look at yourself.”

Mark rolled his eyes, but he felt strangely better. Bantering with Donghyuck made him feel normal again. “Do you ever get tired of being obnoxious?”

“No.” Donghyuck sat up then, the blankets falling off his shoulders. “Thanks for staying with me, I guess. Now we’re even.”

“Even? What did I do?” Mark said, making sure his tone wasn’t argumentative, because he was pretty sure that was the first time Donghyuck had thanked him for anything.

“You blocked the _one_ way out of—”

“Please. It was like, ten minutes.”

“It was more than that.”

“Whatever.”

This time, the silence was kind of comfortable. Mark wasn’t on edge — at least, not because of Donghyuck — and Donghyuck didn’t fill the silence with insults. At first, Mark let himself look anywhere besides Donghyuck. When his eyes finally fell on Donghyuck, he caught the other boy already looking at him.

Even Mark had to admit that Donghyuck was pretty. He generally didn’t pay attention to Donghyuck’s appearance, since he was more focused on how annoying Donghyuck was than how long Donghyuck’s eyelashes were and his golden skin that was decorated with moles. Most of Donghyuck’s makeup was smudged from the many times he’d rubbed his face, but his lips were still stained a deep pink that complemented his skin. His long legs dangled off the side of Lucas’s bed, and the rips in his skinny jeans gave Mark a glimpse of the soft skin on his thighs. His shirt was big enough that it hung off one side, exposing his collar bone and even more moles. He looked so delicate like that, sitting on top of Lucas’s bed with the covers strewn around him and wearing oversized clothes. Mark had never thought he’d ever feel the desire to kiss Lee Donghyuck, but at that moment, it was all he could think about. So he did.

 

“You made out with _Lee Donghyuck_?” Jeno said a little too loudly, forcing Mark to shush him. “Are you sure you didn’t drink last night?”

“I’m positive.”

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“Uh,” Mark stuttered, feeling his face go hot. “About how pretty his collar bones were?”

Jeno’s expression was beyond bewilderment. “You’re unbelievable. Was it good at least?”

“I mean, at the time, yeah,” Mark said. “Now I just wanna die. How am I supposed to face him at school on Monday? Just pretend it never happened?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never hooked up with my arch nemesis.” Jeno rubbed his temples. “Do you have classes with him?”

“No, but I’ll still probably see him. He always knows how to find me. It’s his Make Mark Miserable Radar.” Mark made a vague, dramatic gesture with his hands, and Jeno laughed at him. “I’m serious, stop laughing!”

“Mark, considering Donghyuck hates you just as much as you hate him, I feel like he wants to forget about hooking up with you, too. You don’t need to stress over this.”

Mark stopped pacing right in front of Jeno’s Girls’ Generation _Run Devil Run_ poster — the one he and Jeno had pasted onto the wall with Elmer’s glue in the fifth grade — and frowned. He didn’t want Donghyuck to forget about the party. Mark had, for the first time since meeting Donghyuck when he was in tenth grade and the younger in ninth, gotten through to Donghyuck, and it gave him a sense of pride. He thought about the way Donghyuck had let out a soft sigh when Mark kissed him, curled his fingers into Mark’s sweatshirt.

After a few more seconds of daydreaming, Mark said, “Maybe I don’t want him to.”

The sharp noise Jeno made fell somewhere between a snort and a laugh. “You can’t be serious.”

Mark tried his best to explain his thoughts around what had happened, and why he wanted Donghyuck to _remember_ , and Jeno only seemed to grow more confused until finally he understood clearly.

“You want him to remember kissing you because the knowledge that he did that despite hating your guts boosts your ego.”

“Well, when you put it like that...”

“ _You_ put it like that, Mark. I just said it in less words.” Jeno shook his head, then gave Mark a tired look. “So, what? You’re gonna go up to him in school and be like, ‘hey, thanks for making out with me, it was a blast?’ Mark.”

“I mean, _no_ , I wasn’t gonna do that.” Mark just stared at Jeno’s floor for a bit, kicking his feet absentmindedly before remembering the time Jeno got mad at him for scuffing his floor. “Why don’t we ask GG?”

Jeno looked from Mark to the Girls’ Generation poster, then back again, and sighed. “I guess.”

It was a tradition they’d had since putting the poster up. They’d taken “Into the New World” a little too literally and thought that Girls’ Generation were time or space travelers who knew all the answers to the universe. They asked it questions they were struggling to find the answers to and waited until morning. Neither of them really believed in it anymore, but they still knew voicing their questions in that way would tack it to their subconscious and make it easier to come up with answers on their own. Plus, they always played Girls’ Generation’s “Telepathy” while doing it.

Jeno pulled up the song on his phone while Mark hopped on the bed to sit next to him. “GG,” Jeno started, “Mark kissed Lee Donghyuck. What should he do now?” Jeno paused, tilting his head, then looked back at Mark and said, “GG said to pretend it never happened and to get over yourself.”

Mark pursed his lips. “Maybe you’re right.”

“GG said it, not me.”

“Maybe _GG’s_ right.” Mark let himself fall back on Jeno’s bed, and Jeno followed suit.

“You might be weird about this because you’re lonely. You haven’t dated anyone since Sungyeon, and that was like, freshman year.”

Mark’s mind went straight to Jinyoung, but Jeno wasn’t supposed to know about any of that. He’d even left out the moment at the party, because he knew Jeno would figure it out. “I’m not lonely.”

“It’d do you some good to get out there a little. You work too hard.”

“Says you.”

“Hey, I have a pretty good balance in my life and you know it.”

“Whatever. Speaking of, what the hell was that between you and Lucas?”

Mark was genuinely interested, but also partly trying to deflect. The effort probably didn’t fly over Jeno’s head, but he got the message. “Oh my god, let me tell you. It happened before I went back downstairs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY this took longer than it was supposed to because freshmen moved in this week and i was working welcome week and it was way busier than i expected... also ik i said i had 10k and i DO (16k now) but this chapter just. wasn't any of that. here's 6k of mark's pov to make up for it
> 
> twt: @taeildotgov  
> cc: @2ji


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back to back updates lets get it

His friends had taken the news exactly as expected.

“Shut up Lele, I don’t need everyone in the goddamn school to know I had Mark Lee’s tongue in my mouth,” Donghyuck hissed, glaring at any nosy classmates passing by.

It was their morning meeting outside Renjun’s locker, as Renjun was the only one of them who still _used_ his. The four of them hadn’t seen each other since Donghyuck dropped them off after Yukhei’s party; Jaemin and Renjun’s 7-month anniversary was that weekend, Chenle had spent the weekend at his aunt’s house in Chicago, and Donghyuck ended up spending the days with his dad. Donghyuck hadn’t told them about seeing Mark Lee at the party, partly because he was hoping he’d forget it happened. As soon as he told them on Monday morning — and he made sure it was crystal clear that Donghyuck wasn’t the one who initiated the kiss — they’d lost it. Jaemin was in a similar state to Chenle, cackling and hitting everything around him, including Renjun, who was quiet but no less smug than the other two as he organized his locker.

The mini white board stuck to the door of Renjun’s locker caught Donghyuck’s eye, and he squinted at it. “ ‘ _Markhyuck_ heart heart 4-eva?’ ” He looked down at Renjun, who sported his snaggletooth grin and drummed the dry erase marker on the palm of his hand. “You’re disgusting.”

Jaemin and Chenle had calmed down from their initial hysteria, and Jaemin stroked Renjun’s brown hair and giggled. “As devastated as you are, I think this is the perfect opportunity for you to finally get a boyfriend.”

“For the last time, I will _never_ date M—” Donghyuck stopped himself, remembering they were in the middle of the hallway around all their classmates. “I will _never_ date him.”

“Whatever,” Jaemin said.

“Pause,” Chenle said. “I don’t remember Hyuck drinking at the party.”

“He better not have,” Renjun said sharply. “He was DD.”

Donghyuck wanted to disappear. Voice small, he said, “I was sober.”

Fortunately, his friends had heard, so he wasn’t forced to repeat himself. Unfortunately, it was the exact thing to say to make them go wild again. He wasn’t sure what would have been worse: making out with Mark Lee while drunk, or making out with Mark Lee while completely sober.

“You’re telling us you made out with him while you were dead sober?” Chenle asked.

Donghyuck had to suppress a shiver. “Well. Yeah.”

Joined by Jaemin and Renjun, Chenle screamed again, and Donghyuck didn’t even have the energy to care about their classmates’ increasing curiosity. He let his head fall face-first against one of the lockers and groaned. Part of him knew he was being overdramatic, but most of him — the parts of his brain he trusted most — couldn’t believe that he, Lee Donghyuck, had been weak enough to bare himself to Mark Lee.

Luckily, the warning bell for first period rang, saving Donghyuck from the rest of his friends’ teasing. He and Jaemin had first period chemistry together, but they were doing work with their partners that day. Their teacher had intelligently separated Donghyuck and Jaemin after the first few days of the school year, already fed up with their constant chatter. Jaemin shared a quick kiss with Renjun before the group parted, Donghyuck and Jaemin having class on the other side of the building. While they walked together, Donghyuck felt Jaemin grinning down at him.

“Don’t start,” Donghyuck said.

“I didn’t say anything,” Jaemin said lightly.

As always, the two of them made a show of having to leave each other upon entering the classroom, making their classmates roll their eyes. Donghyuck blew a kiss to Jaemin as he took his seat next to Hyunjun, and the other caught it. It was a nice reprieve from having to think about Mark Lee.

That peace didn’t last very long, not even halfway into the class period.

“Donghyuck,” his teacher said. He looked up from the chemistry packet they were doing with their lab partners. “You’re wanted in Dr. Seo’s office.”

“Oooh,” Jaemin crooned as Donghyuck walked past, earning a punch in the shoulder.

Donghyuck left his belongings, since he didn’t think he’d be too long in Dr. Seo’s office. He wasn’t certain what he’d done to have the principal calling him to his office this time — there were a few possibilities, really — but if he went off the plenty other times he’d been there, he’d be out after a 5-minute lecture on “appropriate behavior” and “good work ethic.” Dr. Seo was a nice guy, really. Nice enough that there was always a little guilt mixed in with the amusement he felt at seeing the principal’s exasperated expression every time Donghyuck landed in front of his desk. Honestly, though, it wasn’t all Donghyuck’s fault. He wasn’t a bad kid; some of the teachers were just unfunny and oversensitive.

Ms. Pyo, the school secretary, nodded a hello at Donghyuck when he strolled into the main office, not even stopping before crossing the “no students beyond this point” barrier. “Sup Dr. Seo, I swear whatever it is this time, Mr. Jung is over—” Donghyuck stopped when he saw the scene in the principal’s office.

For the first time, it wasn’t just Dr. Seo ready to greet Donghyuck in his little office. He first recognized Mark Lee sitting in one of the chairs directly in front of Dr. Seo’s desk, staring up at Donghyuck with wide eyes. Next to him could only be his parents (Donghyuck made a mental note to tease Mark Lee about how he’d gotten his elephant ears from his father) occupying those ugly yellow armchairs that Donghyuck had been trying for a year to convince Dr. Seo to replace. And finally, opposite the Lees on the other side of Dr. Seo’s desk was Donghyuck’s dad, who gave Donghyuck a bored look.

“Donghyuck,” Dr. Seo said. “Have a seat.”

Donghyuck’s eyes widened, and he was ready to say “no thanks” and hightail it, but the expectant look on his dad’s face drove his legs to sit him down next to Mark.

Dr. Seo sighed, brushing his dark hair out of his face. “Boys, it’s come to my attention that you two were involved in an altercation Friday afternoon after school ended.” The principal didn’t miss Donghyuck rolling his eyes, and shot the boy a warning glare. “The consequences of engaging in violence on or off school grounds are steep, Mr. Lees.” Donghyuck inwardly cringed at Dr. Seo’s phrasing, but any misgivings he had about being coupled with Mark Lee were overshadowed by what would happen if Dr. Seo decided to take disciplinary action. They’d get suspended for at least three days, the minimum punishment for fighting on school property. It would 100% go on their school records, which could affect Mark’s chances of getting into his preferred choices and make it infinitely harder for Donghyuck to get scholarships so his dad wouldn’t have to go into massive debt just to put him through college.

Someone cleared their throat, and Donghyuck met Dr. Seo’s eyes. “Several students have said that the exchange turned violent. Others claim that’s not the case. Now, I have this photo—”

“Photo,” Donghyuck repeated in an unamused tone.

At that, Mark finally spoke. “Dr. Seo, please. This really isn’t necessary. Donghyuck and I didn’t fight. He didn’t… Can we just drop this?”

Apparently taking a page from Donghyuck’s personal code of conduct, Dr. Seo ignored Mark Lee. He typed something on his keyboard then turned the monitor around so everyone else could see it. Donghyuck leaned forward to get a good look at it.

It was a picture of him getting ready to beat Mark Lee’s ass, but obviously he couldn’t say that. Donghyuck’s train of thought broke off, and his mouth formed an ‘o’ as he understood.

At any other angle, Donghyuck’s intentions of murder would have been indisputable, evident on his face. However, this unlucky frame showed Donghyuck’s back, half of Mark’s face obscured while the two were pressed almost chest to chest. Mark’s hand was clamped around Donghyuck’s bicep, his eyes looking down darkly at Donghyuck. It was a sight Donghyuck had gotten to see again later that night in an entirely different context. In Donghyuck’s opinion, the pose was awkward, but he couldn’t deny that it was still compromising in more ways than one. He turned to look at Mark, whose eyes were equally terrified and pleading. He looked at the photo one last time, and he knew what he had to do. “Who posted that, and why are Mark,” he had to force himself not to say the kid’s full name, “and I in here instead of the asshole who took a picture of an obviously intimate moment and uploaded it for everyone to see?”

The room was silent. Donghyuck couldn’t quite see Mark’s face, and he didn’t want to, but he could just see Mark’s parents, who were beginning to appear agitated, a little scandalized. Donghyuck’s dad was thoughtfully calm and focused on Donghyuck. There was no way he couldn’t see through his lie, but as long as Dr. Seo and Mark’s parents believed it, it didn’t matter. His dad would back him up whether he was in the wrong or not.

To Donghyuck’s surprise, it was Mark’s mom who broke the quiet. “Yes,” she said, slowly but deliberately, “why isn’t the student who posted that photo of our sons being punished instead?”

Dr. Seo squirmed; the discussion was definitely not going the way he’d expected it to. Donghyuck actually felt bad for him. He didn’t do anything wrong, he was just another victim of Donghyuck’s lies.

“I, ah, I wasn’t aware that Mark and Donghyuck were…”

“Yeah, well, we are. He even shoved his tongue down my throat at Wong Yukhei’s party Friday night.” That was more than enough, the more rational side of Donghyuck’s brain would have thought, but he couldn’t stop himself. He pulled down the collar of his shirt, revealing the multiple hickies Mark had left that still hadn’t completely faded, dimly aware of Mark, their parents, and Dr. Seo’s shocked faces as he said, “Where do you think I got these?”

“Okay Donghyuck, that’s enough! I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Lee. Mr. Moon. Boys. I’ll see to the situation immediately.” He looked at Mark and Donghyuck with a red face, blinked a few times. “You’re both excused. You can return to class for now.”

“What the hell?” Mark Lee said as soon as they were out of earshot of the main office. “‘Intimate moment?’ Couldn’t you have come up with anything else? Did you have to bring up the party? The fucking—”

Donghyuck spun on him, making the older boy jump despite being the bigger of the two. “This is a strange way of thanking the guy who saved your ass from getting a suspension and being relieved of your vice presidency and untainted record.” Donghyuck knew that he was being ridiculous, that he really didn’t have to go as far as he had in his rare moment of panic. But quite frankly, he had been put on the spot, and he thought he’d done a pretty good job avoiding punishment for the both of them. He took another step closer, forcing Mark back against the wall of the empty hallway. “Unless you want me to go back in there and tell Dr. Seo that I was just playing around and that we really were trying to kick each others’ ass.”

Mark’s mouth hung open, his face and neck flushed as he glanced down at the tiny space between them. It was a familiar situation in more ways than one, and the idiot side of Donghyuck’s brain thought _kiss him_.

A voice called his name from down the hallway. “Hyuck.”

Donghyuck jumped away from Mark, who was still in shock. It was his dad, his face frustratingly unreadable. “Leave your boyfriend alone and get to class.”

Luck really must not have been rooting for Donghyuck, because almost as soon as his dad was gone, Heejin appeared, her eyes bright and excited.

“I didn’t know you two were dating! You make a cute couple,” she said.

Both Donghyuck and Mark stumbled over their words trying to assure Heejin that they were not, in fact, dating, and never will be. It didn’t do much good. Heejin’s face melted into understanding, and she said, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone! Promise!” and trotted off to class. Donghyuck let out a noise of frustration. If Heejin knew that Donghyuck and Mark Lee were “boyfriends,” then soon everyone else in their school would, too.

 

“You wouldn’t believe what happened to Donghyuck today,” Jaemin said over lunch, tone disturbingly conversational. Chenle and Renjun gave him questioning looks. “Go on. Take a guess.”

Renjun took one glance at Donghyuck’s annoyed face, then said with a wry smile, “Does it have something to do with Mark Lee?”

“Ding, ding, ding! You’re so smart, baby.” Jaemin leaned over and gave Renjun a wet kiss on the cheek. Renjun rolled his eyes.

“Okay, so what happened?”

Jaemin, who already knew all the details, relayed everything to their friends. As his best friend described what had happened during first period, Donghyuck realized just how dumb he was. Of _all_ the things he could have said to get them out of trouble, he had to choose the most humiliating one. Least of all in front of his own dad, whether he believed the story or not. And now Mark Lee’s parents thought there was something going on between them. That was definitely part of the reason why he’d been so angry at Donghyuck earlier; he’d probably made Mark Lee’s life harder. Not that Donghyuck cared about him.

When Jaemin finished the retelling, the reaction was different from that morning. Both Renjun and Chenle’s mouths hung open, less in shock and more in disbelief, and Renjun tried and failed several times to form words. Jaemin, of course, looked as giddy as a child on their birthday.

Ever impatient, it was Jaemin who spoke next. “Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks this is hilarious.”

“Donghyuck,” Renjun said. “Oh my god.”

“I know, Renjun,” Donghyuck said. “I’m stupid. I know.”

“ _How_?”

“I panicked! I wasn’t expecting Dad and Mark Lee and Mr. and Mrs. Mark Lee. I didn’t even know that was what it was about until I got there.”

“Ohhhh,” Chenle said suddenly. “I get it now! This explains why Heejin asked me if Hyuck or Mark confessed first. I thought she was joking.”

“She — of course she did,” Donghyuck said. “What did you say?”

“I said you, obviously, ‘cause Mark’s a pussy.”

“Chenle!” Donghyuck shrieked, battering the other with his empty lunch bag.

Chenle scooted farther away from Donghyuck so Donghyuck couldn’t reach him. “I’m sorry! I thought it was a joke!”

Jaemin pulled Chenle away from Donghyuck and leaned forward. “Can we talk about the fact that Dr. Seo and Donghyuck and Mark’s parents think that Donghyuck and Mark are either in a relationship or they’re hooking up.”

“The ‘intimate moment’ phrasing kinda has more of a relationship connotation to me,” Renjun said.

“Renjun, I would love for you to shut up,” Donghyuck said.

“I can’t believe you showed off your hickies to the fucking principal _and_ your dad,” Chenle said.

“Yeah,” Renjun said. He reached down into his backpack and pulled out a small makeup tube. “Maybe you should cover those up. Concealer.” He slid it across the table to Donghyuck, who stared down at it miserably.

“C’mon, Hyuck, people are talking. You won’t be able to forget about it if a rumor takes hold.” Renjun paused. “That is, unless you don’t want to forget.”

“Shut up,” Donghyuck growled, snatching up the concealer and stalking off to the closest bathroom.

While covering up the remnant of the marks Mark had left, Donghyuck was actually forced to think about what had happened between them in Yukhei’s bedroom. He was just as surprised as his friends were when he realized after going home that he’d kissed Mark Lee. Or, more accurately, Mark Lee kissed him. Obviously he’d wanted it. He knew that much. He didn’t know why he did; all he knew was that the way Mark had been looking at him in the moments right before they kissed made him feel hot all over. Just thinking about Mark crossing the room to stand over Donghyuck, who had remained seated on Yukhei’s bed, staring down at Donghyuck like he was mesmerized. He asked Donghyuck for permission, and there was no way Donghyuck could deny him when he was acting like _that_.

The door swung open as a few freshmen walked in, and Donghyuck realized he had just been standing there, hand frozen in front of his face. He swallowed, blended out the makeup. He forgot where he’d originally been going with his last train of thought. In only three days Mark Lee had managed to mess with Donghyuck’s head without even trying. Mark Lee, _Mark Lee_ , the same Mark Lee who Donghyuck hated and the Mark Lee who had cradled Donghyuck’s face in his hands so gently while he slipped his tongue into Donghyuck’s mouth.

“Fuck Mark Lee!” he said aloud. “I don’t need this!” He screwed the cap back onto Renjun’s concealer and stormed out of the bathroom, ignoring the confused faces on the freshmen.

He didn’t go straight back to the cafeteria. Instead, he wandered the music hallway, which was always deserted in the first half of the day due to band and orchestra taking the last two periods. That would give him the quiet he needed.

This was entirely Donghyuck’s fault, but there was no doubt Mark would try to talk to him soon, with the way Donghyuck handled things in Dr. Seo’s office. In his defense, Mark wasn’t helping, either. But he needed to ensure that when Mark _did_ approach Donghyuck, Donghyuck would be able to behave normally. The last thing he wanted was to fall for the stupid puppy eyes act a second time, so he needed to be prepared, on his A-game at all times. He refused to crack just because he found out his sworn enemy had rough hands and soft lips. If Mark Lee thought there was any chance for Donghyuck to play damsel and jump right into his arms again, well. He was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please talk to me i am so d*pressed
> 
> twt: @taeildotgov / @CLSPHOBLC  
> cc: 2ji


	4. Chapter 4

Mark did a lot of meditating that night. He slept even less than usual, finding himself tossing around in bed until it was almost time to get up. He informally consulted GG a couple times, pulled up the Run Devil Run poster on his phone and did it that way.

His parents were reacting pretty well to the not-fact that Mark had a boyfriend, and that his boyfriend was Donghyuck. He’d purposely avoided his mom all weekend, changing the subject or finding excuses to leave the house whenever she tried to talk to him. It probably eased her anxieties to know now that he was in a relationship at least, and that he wasn’t just hooking up with randoms at high school parties. Which he kind of did, but Donghyuck was anything but a random guy, and Donghyuck had basically told Dr. Seo and their parents that they, in Dr. Seo’s words, “were.”

He had tennis practice after class council, rescheduled from the day before because the courts had gotten rained out. That meant he had to skip guitar lessons for the second week in a row. After Jinyoung had texted him Sunday night saying _See you at practice_ , he’d spent the better part of his night debating whether or not he should quit the team. He loved tennis, the only non-academic activity he really poured himself into and his best escape from his parents’ pressure, but he wasn’t sure how much more he could take from Jinyoung and the rest of the guys. Which was why he came up with a plan.

Jeno had laughed in Mark’s face when he told the younger boy his plan Monday night, which made it all the more difficult for Mark to approach Donghyuck before school.

As he expected, he found Donghyuck in the commons, occupying a table in the very back even though no one else was there. He was scribbling in the notebook in his lap, which he closed when he noticed Mark approaching. “Mark Lee,” he said with surprising calmness, albeit dry. He didn’t even look at Mark, choosing instead to scroll through his phone. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Mark sighed. The blank look in Donghyuck’s eyes and the fact that they were each other’s sworn enemy motivated Mark to get straight to the point. “I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend so the guys on the tennis team will stop thinking I’m into them.”

Unsurprisingly, Donghyuck only blinked once at Mark, then returned to his phone. Mark had planned for this. “I’m serious. This isn’t some dumb joke or prank.”

Mark’s voice echoed a little through the hall, making him flinch while Donghyuck rolled his eyes and pocketed his phone. The younger boy pointed a finger toward Mark, and for a second Mark thought that they were going to have a repeat of the protest. “You, Mark Lee, are asking me,” he pointed at himself, “Donghyuck Not-Related-In-Any-Way-Shape-Or-Form-Lee,” Mark hated the pleased look on Donghyuck’s face after he scoffed, “to pretend to be your boyfriend for an indefinite amount of time for whatever reason you said. I forgot already. Anyway, if you can’t see how ridiculous that sounds, then maybe you really are as dense as you look.”

Somehow, it had actually sounded way more sensible in Mark’s head than when Donghyuck said it aloud. “Okay, you have a point. But I’m still serious.”

Even though Mark had over a foot on Donghyuck when the latter was still sitting, he felt tiny by the way Donghyuck glared up at him. “Why me? There’s plenty other idiots in this school who can, for what reason I have no clue, tolerate your presence for more than negative two seconds.”

Mark sighed. “I’d love to ask someone else to do it. But everyone already thinks we’re dating.”

Donghyuck froze, his jaw left open around a retort. He dropped his hand to his side and blinked hard a few times, his eye twitching. Finally, he tsked his tongue. “They what?”

Mark rolled his eyes. “Uh, yesterday in Dr. Seo’s office when you told him and our parents that we’re dating? Lucas’s party?”

Donghyuck scoffed. “Just tell your parents we broke up. And the party? We didn’t declare our love for each other, we just kissed. That doesn’t mean we’re dating, it means I had a dramatic lapse in judgment. Ask Jeno.”

“Jeno’s into Lucas,” Mark said. “I don’t wanna mess with that.”

“Well, _Lucas_ is into Vernon.” Donghyuck stared at him, and Mark felt like he was being scrutinized under a microscope. “There’s a reason you want it to be me. Spit it out or I won’t even consider it.”

Mark squirmed and looked around the commons again. Still empty. “You’re scary, okay? That’s why. At least partly.”

“I’m scary.” Donghyuck laughed in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Like half the school thinks you’re intimidating. Surely you noticed.”

“Of course I noticed. But what’s that got to do with you?” Donghyuck tilted his head. “They’re bullying you? Your teammates?”

It dumbfounded Mark how easily Donghyuck could read him. He didn’t think he was that obvious. He was tempted to lie, but Donghyuck would probably see right through it. “I wouldn’t say bullying, but it’s not just lighthearted teasing, either.”

“And you think that me being your boyfriend will, I don’t know, scare them off? Really?”

“I don’t think they’d try to mess with you. They think you’re, like, deadly.”

“Well, they aren’t wrong.”

“I know.”

Donghyuck stared at him. “Do you expect flattery to make me say yes?”

“I don’t expect it to make you say no.”

Donghyuck’s eyes flicked up to the commons’ high ceiling that poured sunlight into the school. He didn’t say anything for a moment, and Mark genuinely couldn’t tell if he was just going to tell him to fuck off or not. “I don’t know,” he said finally with a wry quirk of his lips, and damn if Mark didn’t want to slap the attitude out of him. “What’s in it for me?”

That, Mark had planned for. “I’ll buy you food after school every week.”

The response was quick. “Every weekday.”

Mark frowned, though he supposed negotiations were better than outright rejection. “I’m not loaded, Donghyuck, and I have after school activities every day except Friday.”

“Every day? Thought student council only met every other Tuesday?”

“Those are for the general meetings. Executive Board meets Monday through Thursday, though we usually try to have our meeting during school. And on the weeks we don’t have a general meeting, I have guitar lessons.”

“Of course you do. But all that’s cool. We’ll just go after, then. Or,” Donghyuck paused, and Mark swore he saw the gears turning in Donghyuck’s devious brain, “I could come with you.”

“You want to join student council, tennis, Students for the Advancement of the Environment, bible study, and my guitar lessons.” It wasn’t a question, more like Mark listing them off aloud so he could be sure he was understanding what Donghyuck was suggesting as well as let Donghyuck know what he was requesting. “Absolutely not. You just want to embarrass me.”

“I’m pretty sure I’d make you look less lame, actually. But no, I don’t want to join kissass club, tree club, god club, or your lessons, I just want to sit in on them while eating food you paid for or have some entertainment before you buy me food afterward.”

“That’s crazy. Don’t you have better things to do?”

Donghyuck blinked up at Mark, and something terrifying and dubious swirled in his eyes. “Do you want a fake boyfriend or not? Those are my terms.”

 

“What do you mean he said yes?” Jeno squawked, drawing attention from their classmates around them during homeroom. “Lee Donghyuck, _the_ Lee Donghyuck, who has hated your guts since the beginning of time—”

“It’s only been, like, two years, dude.”

Jeno hushed Mark with a hand over the latter’s mouth. “He’s playing at something. There is no way he just said yes out of the goodness of his heart. First of all, he doesn’t have one. Second of all, even if he did, it would be filled with spoiled milk and nothing else.”

The teacher called their names for roll, and Mark swatted Jeno’s hand away to shout a “here” for both of them, then turned back to Jeno. “Did you miss the part where I have to buy him food every day?”

“Please. He doesn’t need you to buy him food. He’s buddies with Chenle. Sophomore, Chinese, rich?” The bell for first period rang, and Jeno quickly packed up his things, having first period gym on the opposite end of the school. Before darting out of the classroom, he pointed at Mark and said, “He’s up to something, I’m telling you. Watch your back.”

 

Jeno didn’t mention Donghyuck for the rest of the day, even at lunch and the class council meeting. Mark couldn’t tell if Jeno was mad at him or not, but they were still talking like normal, so he figured it wasn’t that big of a deal. But on his way to the bathroom, he got a text.

 

 **(xxx-xxx-xxxx)** mark lee

 

Mark rolled his eyes.

 

Donghyuck

How did you get my number

 **donghyuck who i hate** yukhei gave it to me

 **donghyuck who i hate** so when am i meeting your teammates

What

 **donghyuck who i hate** thats like the whole point of this isnt it

 **donghyuck who i hate** whens your next practice

Like. right now

 **donghyuck who i hate** ok. see u in 15 minutes

What?????

 

When Donghyuck didn’t reply, Mark bit his lip. The knowledge that Donghyuck was coming made the churning in his stomach even worse. He hadn’t expected to see Donghyuck again so soon, to start their charade so quickly. And to kick off their fake relationship in front of Mark’s teammates?

Mark changed out of his school clothes in one of the bathrooms instead of the locker room. After what Mark had _almost_ done at Lucas’s party, he didn’t have any idea what Jinyoung might do or say, so he figured it was best to take preventative measures and avoid the most likely settings for Jinyoung to target him in.

He remembered what he said to Donghyuck. He’d told the junior that Jinyoung and his teammates were too scared of Donghyuck to try to hurt him, but now that it was actually happening, he doubted his own words. He _wasn’t_ certain of Jinyoung’s limit, his capabilities. It was likely that he’d be emboldened by being on home turf, out on the courts and surrounded by the other guys on the team. As infuriating as Donghyuck was, Mark didn’t want him to get hurt, least of all because of Mark’s lack of foresight. By the time he made it to the outdoor courts, he was seriously considering calling off the whole deal with Donghyuck. The plan had been rash and poorly thought out, and would force him to spend innumerable amounts of time around Donghyuck, not to mention money. But before he could finish typing out a text to Donghyuck, the outside doors of the gym flew open behind him, and his teammates poured out.

Minjun, as always, was the first to explicitly acknowledge Mark. “Hey, Lee! We missed you in there!”

Mark let out a slow breath through his nose as he made eye contact with Jinyoung, whose cold, warning gaze arrested Mark. He looked back down at the unsent text and, with a shaky breath, deleted it and pocketed his phone.

Their coach was late that afternoon, which meant that Jinyoung would start and lead their warm ups. Fortunately, Jinyoung didn’t force Mark to rally with him, and sent him to the far court with one of their teammates. Jisung shot Mark an apologetic look. Mark just hoped Donghyuck would get there soon.

About halfway through warming up, his partner, Woojin, stopped. “What do you keep looking back at the school for?” He was a naturally loud guy, kind of like Lucas but less obnoxious, so the guys at the next couple courts heard and not at all discreetly listened in.

Mark froze, trying to think of a good enough excuse before he realized that he had one. “I’m just, um. Waiting for someone.”

“Who? You got a boyfriend or something?”

Mark’s voice stopped working then, him being too aware of Jinyoung to form a proper response. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, getting more and more anxious until Jisung spoke.

“Hey, is that Donghyuck?”

Mark whirled around, and sure enough, Donghyuck was walking out of the school and toward the tennis courts. The feeling that washed over Mark was something like relief, but as Donghyuck grew closer, he could make out the annoyance on his features. His hands were balled into little fists at his sides, his jaw set. It made Mark think that maybe Donghyuck wasn’t coming to help Mark, but to humiliate him even further in front of his teammates. Was Donghyuck that evil? Mark could never be sure.

Jinyoung’s voice pulled Mark out of his worries about Donghyuck. “What the hell’s he doing here?”

The entire court was silent as Donghyuck came in through the open gate. His eyes fell on Mark almost immediately and walked toward him, shouting, “Mark Lee!” Before Mark could even realize what was going on, Donghyuck had stomped over to him, dropped his backpack, and shoved Mark with both hands. “You are an _idiot_.”

Mark stumbled backward, only barely catching himself from falling. “Wh-what?” He stared wide-eyed at Donghyuck, and in his peripheral vision, his teammates were just as confused.

Donghyuck stood before him, his hands on his hips, and to Mark’s amazement, his lip curled into a pout. “Did you forget we had a date after school?”

Mark blinked. “I— I—”

“Well?” Donghyuck said, folding his arms over his chest now.

“I’m sorry?” Mark said.

“‘ _Sorry_?’” Donghyuck rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Men.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder and grabbed Mark’s arm. “You’re coming with me.”

“I— _practice_ ,” Mark squeaked, looking at Jinyoung, who was watching in bewilderment.

Donghyuck turned and met Jinyoung’s eyes, chin high. “I’m taking my boyfriend.”

“ _Boyfriend_?” Minjun repeated, landing him an elbow in the side from Woojin.

Jinyoung stared Donghyuck down for an agonizing moment, Donghyuck refusing to back down, then sighed and said, “Whatever.”

“You’re a shit actor,” Donghyuck said when they were out of earshot, arms linked.

“You basically ambushed me!” Mark hissed, then backtracking quickly. “You were…”

“Oscar-worthy? I know.”

“Jinyoung’s never let me skip practice that easy before.”

“I’m as surprised as you.” Donghyuck put a little skip in his step. “I thought he’d put up more of a fight. Call me a fag or something. Hey, where are we going?”

Mark stopped and looked down at Donghyuck, which was a mistake, because they were so close that Mark found Donghyuck’s sharp eyes only centimeters away from his. He flinched, and their arms dropped. Mark shoved his hands into his pockets, while Donghyuck crossed his arms over his chest again.

“Um,” Mark said, “I’m going to my car? So I can go home.”

Donghyuck glared at him. “I thought I said we’re going out.”

“…I thought that was just acting.”

“The enthusiasm was acting. You taking me to Wendy’s is real. Go change out of your practice clothes.”

 

Donghyuck was no less rude a passenger as he was a person. When Mark turned on the 60s pop radio, Donghyuck changed it to the 80s; when Mark hit a curb, Donghyuck mocked him; and when Mark told Donghyuck to take his feet off the dashboard, Donghyuck deliberately met Mark’s gaze as he made no move to remove his feet. Mark tried his best not to respond to Donghyuck’s provocations, since Donghyuck seemed to get the biggest kick out of Mark’s reactions.

Ten to fifteen minutes later, Mark pulled into the Wendy’s parking lot, and Donghyuck yawned. “Y’know, I’m actually real tired after having to bail you out of practice—” He ignored Mark’s protest of _I literally did not ask you to_. “Let’s just go through the drive-thru.”

That, Mark could get behind. Not sitting down to eat meant less time spent with Donghyuck, and at least while he was driving, he could ignore Donghyuck under the pretense of focusing on the road. Mark nodded and pulled up to the drive-thru speaker.

“Hi, welcome to Wendy’s, go ahead with your order.”

“Fuck,” Mark cursed high under his breath.

“What?” Donghyuck asked.

“It’s _Chan_ ,” Mark hissed, rubbing his temples. “He doesn’t know we’re — you know.”

Donghyuck snorted. “And? It’s just Chan, I doubt he’ll care.”

Mark groaned. Donghyuck was right; Chan wouldn’t care at all. It was just that he didn’t want to have to directly deceive any more people than he had to.

“Are you there?” Chan asked over the grainy speaker.

“Yeah, sorry, uh, I can I get—” Mark threw Donghyuck a look over his shoulder.

“A number seven, extra tomato,” Donghyuck said.

“A number seven with extra tomato,” Mark relayed.

“A medium fry.”

“And a medium fry—”

“A chocolate frosty.”

“And a chocolate frosty—”

“And a ten-piece chicken nugget.”

“Are you—” Donghyuck steeled Mark with another glare, and the latter heaved a sigh. “And a ten-piece chicken nugget.”

Mark watched each item blink onto the screen, then Chan said, “Will that be all?”

Mark looked at Donghyuck and said drily, “Will that be all?”

Donghyuck shook out his hair and sat back in his seat, a tiny smile on his lips. “I suppose.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s it.”

When Mark greeted Chan at the drive-thru window with his debit card, Chan faltered. “Donghyuck?”

Donghyuck waved.

“Oh,” Chan said. “I didn’t know you guys were…”

“Neither did I,” Mark grumbled.

Chan gave Mark a dumb look, Mark’s card still in his hand, unswiped. “Uh, well. Okay. Just a second.”

When Chan gave them Mark’s card and Donghyuck’s food, he still looked puzzled, but this time didn’t say anything. “You guys enjoy.”

“Thanks,” Mark said, despite the fact that all the food was for Donghyuck. Pulling back out of the lot, he handed the bag to Donghyuck, who tore into it immediately.

On the way back to the school, where Donghyuck’s car was still parked, Mark could hear Donghyuck chewing his food happily over the Prince song that was playing. Meanwhile, Mark thought about Chan’s reaction to seeing Mark and Donghyuck together. Mark’s teammates had reacted similarly to Chan — What if they didn’t believe Mark and Donghyuck were actually dating? Their classmates knew, for the most part, Mark and Donghyuck’s true feelings toward each other. After all, almost all of their bickering and taunting took place during school hours and on school grounds. There was the _one_ time that they ran into each other at the mall — Mark with Jeno and Donghyuck with his friends — that ended in an argument, but for the most part, they only had to see each other at school. Except for now.

“Thanks for the food,” Donghyuck said when Mark dropped him off in the school parking lot.

Mark nodded. “Thanks for agreeing. To this.”

“You’re welcome, Mark Lee. What better do I have to do than mess with your life?”

Mark rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Get out of my car.”

Donghyuck grinned. “I’ll see you tomorrow, loser. And when we go out for real, lose the fucking blazer.” Mark made a face, and Donghyuck laughed, slamming the door shut and walking off.

 

“That’s it? He bitched at you on the courts, you bought him food, then he left?”

Mark shrugged, shifting on Jeno’s bed so he was facing Jeno, who was at his desk, both boys’ homework long forgotten. “I don’t know if Jinyoung was just caught off guard or _what_ , because he’s literally never just _let_ me skip practice.”

“Or he was afraid that Donghyuck would scalp him in his sleep. Which I’d be scared of if I were you, too.”

“Yeah, probably,” Mark said.

Jeno scrutinized Mark for a moment, making Mark _pray_ he wouldn’t talk about Donghyuck any more. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing,” Mark said.

“No, not nothing,” Jeno said, annoyed. “You’re always thinking.”

Mark sighed, which was apparently enough for Jeno to figure it out.

“Is this about the party?”

“No,” Mark said reflexively. “I mean, kind of, yeah. It’s just… Remember when I had that huge crush on Donghyuck sophomore year?”

“Yes, Mark, this is why we hate Donghyuck. Don’t tell me you think you like him again.”

Mark paused before saying, “No, I don’t. I mean, physically, maybe. He’s annoying and rude. But it’s just weird being around him, willingly.”

“How long are you gonna do this?”

“I don’t know,” Mark said. “Until Donghyuck calls it off or I get sick of him? Whichever comes first.”

“This sounds like a terrible idea. He literally hates your guts, and you’re letting him into your life.”

“Well, he doesn’t hate me enough to not make out with me,” Mark tried.

Jeno threw his pen at Mark, bouncing off Mark’s nose. “Use your brain, Mark.” He tapped his own head. “Why on _Earth_ would Donghyuck agree to pretending to be your boyfriend at virtually no benefit to himself after dedicating over two years of his high school career to making your life difficult?”

That was a good question, one that Mark had pondered a few times over the course of the day, but he tried not to dwell on it. He understood why Jeno was so distrustful of Donghyuck, because he didn’t trust Donghyuck either. But as rocky as his relationship with Donghyuck was, Donghyuck was only a pest compared to Jinyoung.

It would have been the perfect moment to tell Jeno about everything that had happened between Mark and Jinyoung, from them actually being in love to their bitter breakup that ended in Mark having to out himself to the whole school. He’d made Jeno and Tzuyu believe that he did it because he was ready to come out (wrong) and that the reason he stopped hanging out with Jinyoung and the rest of the team was because they were homophobic (not wrong, but not the whole truth).

But instead of coming clean, Mark just flopped on his back and didn’t give Jeno an answer. He didn’t have one; Donghyuck was Donghyuck, and Mark had never been able to understand him. If Donghyuck had plans to ruin Mark’s life, then he could try, and Mark would probably be vulnerable enough for it to work. But until then, Donghyuck was at least pretending to be on his side, and for some reason, Mark found comfort in that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donghyuck's friends find out about Mark, and Donghyuck meets his dad's boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long!!! i've been very very busy with school and i wasn't happy with this for a long time, i rewrote it like twice -_-

“I just don’t understand,” Chenle was saying as he, Donghyuck, Renjun, and Jaemin walked through Renjun’s front door that Friday afternoon. “You? Mark Lee? _Dating_?”

Donghyuck had to suppress a groan. He’d only told his friends about his _special arrangement_ with Mark Lee when he had no other choice, which unfortunately came when Renjun passed the tennis courts and saw them holding hands on Thursday. Except he’d neglected to tell them — and his dad, who he’d been avoiding since his stint in Dr. Seo’s office — that it was fake, just playing into the rumors that were already there. During the drive from the school to Renjun’s house, Chenle and Renjun wouldn’t stop talking and asking Donghyuck questions about him and Mark, while Jaemin stayed silent with only a small smile on his lips.

Donghyuck had wanted to tell his friends that he was only dating Mark as a favor to the other boy, but after weighing the pros and cons, he realized there were only cons. For starters, telling them that he was only _fake_ dating Mark wouldn’t get them to lay off Donghyuck about “liking” Mark any more than _actually_ dating Mark. It would raise just as many questions, the biggest one being _Why_ Donghyuck agreed in the first place and the answer being _I don’t know_. Not only that, but if Donghyuck’s friends believed the act, then it would be way easier to convince the rest of the school — namely Mark’s asshole teammates — that they were dating.

“For the last time, _yes_ , Mark Lee and I, dating,” Donghyuck said.

The three guests — Donghyuck, Jaemin, and Chenle — helped themselves to Renjun’s parents’ nice kitchen, which was mostly unused because his dad worked late nights and his mom was always away on business, leaving Renjun home alone for long periods of time. Renjun perched on top of one of the granite counters and watched them, especially Donghyuck.

“What, Renjun?” Donghyuck said after he poured himself a glass of orange juice and turned around to find Renjun still looking at him.

The scrutiny in Renjun’s eyes was intimidating, but it wasn’t the first time Donghyuck had been the target of one of Renjun’s calculating gazes. Eventually, Renjun shrugged and hugged his knees to his chest. “You don’t seem very happy about finally dating Mark, is all.”

Before Donghyuck could conjure up a response that wouldn’t give himself away, Jaemin reappeared at Donghyuck’s side, saying, “Yeah, I noticed that, too.”

And finally he speaks. All day long, Jaemin’s silence in regards to Donghyuck dating Mark had unnerved Donghyuck, who had expected Jaemin to have the most enthusiastic response of the three. After all, Jaemin was the most involved in Donghyuck’s not-relationship with Mark, being Donghyuck’s best friend. Then again, being Donghyuck’s best friend also meant he was the best at detecting Donghyuck’s lies.

“I am excited,” Donghyuck said. “I’m just tired right now.” At Renjun’s unimpressed look, Donghyuck added, “And it’s embarrassing, okay? I made out with the guy I hate at a party, told our parents _and_ the principal about it and told them we were dating, and _then_ realized I like him?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty pathetic,” Chenle said around a moon cake.

“Thanks, Chenle,” Donghyuck grumbled, though he was secretly thankful for Chenle’s support, because that made Renjun look a little more convinced that nothing was wrong.

“I guess so,” Renjun conceded.

Donghyuck turned to Jaemin, who looked down at Donghyuck with an indecipherable look, foreign on Jaemin’s usually expressive features. But it was quickly replaced with a wide smile and a squeeze of Donghyuck’s shoulder. Hand still around Donghyuck, Jaemin said, “As long as you’re happy. Let’s watch a movie.”

Chenle immediately piped in. “Can we watch—”

“No,” Renjun said. “We are _not_ watching Megamind again. Can we please watch something else?”

“Depends.” Donghyuck leaned his hip against the sink and ignored Chenle’s whining. “By ‘something else’ do you mean Moomin? Because I’m not watching that.”

Renjun scowled and stuck his tongue out at Donghyuck. “It’s better than Megamind.”

“Good thing those aren’t our only two choices.”

“What do you wanna watch, Nana?” Renjun asked.

Jaemin shrugged. “Anything that isn’t sad.” Suddenly his face lit up. “I know! Let’s watch Meet the Parents. Since Hyuck is meeting his dad’s boyfriend tomorrow night.”

Renjun and Chenle’s mouths fell open, and Donghyuck realized he hadn’t mentioned his dad’s boyfriend to either of them, only Jaemin. “Your dad is dating someone?”

Donghyuck nodded.

“Since when? How did they meet?” Renjun asked.

“A few months, and I don’t know. I don’t know anything about him other than he has two kids, but I’m not meeting them tomorrow. Just him, me, and my dad.”

“That’s… wow. How are you feeling?”

Donghyuck ran his nail over a tiny crack in the glass he was using. He’d already answered that question twice, for his dad and for Jaemin, and each time he gave the same answer, getting shorter with each delivery. “Good. I’m glad he’s getting back out there. He seems happy.”

Sensing Donghyuck’s desire not to elaborate, Renjun nodded and changed the subject. “So, what are we watching?”

They ended up watching 48 Hours on Netflix until Chenle fell asleep. Renjun’s twin bed wasn’t big enough for the four of them, but they fit well in his huge living room, where two boys could get a couch to themselves while the other two shared the biggest one.Renjun had a weird thing about sleeping with Jaemin when Donghyuck and Chenle were over, so Renjun and Chenle were sharing the big couch. Jaemin and Donghyuck stayed glued to each other’s sides next to a sleeping Chenle while Renjun went upstairs to take his nightly shower.

“Next time, I wanna go to Chenle’s,” Jaemin whispered.

Donghyuck nodded. “His bed is bigger. How do you and Renjun fit in his bed?”

Jaemin giggled. “We get really, really, really close. His face always gets so red. It’s the cutest thing.”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Gross.”

“Mm.” Jaemin went quiet, which told Donghyuck a big question was coming.

“What?”

“Are you sure you’re okay meeting your dad’s boyfriend tomorrow? I can be there for you if you want me to.”

“It’s okay.” Donghyuck brushed his fingertips over the palm of Jaemin’s hand before lacing their fingers together. “I need to do this. He shouldn’t have to be single forever just because of me, you know?”

“Well, yeah,” Jaemin said, rubbing his thumb over the back of Donghyuck’s hand the way Donghyuck liked, “but that doesn’t mean you can’t have feelings about it, too.”

Donghyuck huffed, momentarily squeezing Jaemin’s hand as he tucked his feet under himself. “Can we not talk about this right now? I want tonight to be peaceful, and I don’t need to embarrass myself by sobbing over my dead mom in Renjun’s house.”

For a second, Donghyuck thought Jaemin was going to push further, because that’s what Jaemin _did_ ever since Donghyuck’s mom died and Donghyuck became so much more withdrawn than before. Donghyuck was so closed off about some of his thoughts and feelings that whenever Jaemin saw an opening, he took the opportunity to nuzzle his way in. Or, more accurately, he hammered his way in, pounding away at the walls Donghyuck put up until Donghyuck gave in. And if they were alone, side-by-side in one of their beds after either Jaemin’s mom or Donghyuck’s dad loaded them up with food, Jaemin wouldn’t have let it go. But they weren’t alone, and Donghyuck was eternally grateful for Renjun, and the fact that he had decided to pad back into the living room before Jaemin could say anything.

“Do you guys wanna watch something else or just chill?” Renjun said with a yawn as he clambered onto the couch in his Powerpuff Girls pajama set, curling into Jaemin’s other side.

Donghyuck swallowed. “I’m kinda tired, can we just go to bed?”

“Lame,” Renjun said, yawning again right after. “But sure.”

Donghyuck jumped off the couch and flopped onto his, the one he’d claimed for himself the first time he’d ever spent the night at Renjun’s house a few years before. Jaemin cast Donghyuck one of those looks, a look Donghyuck was never able to decipher, something he’d obviously picked up from Renjun. Donghyuck didn’t even bother trying to pretend everything was okay, just shot Jaemin a weak smile and a “good night” before burrowing under the quilt Renjun had thrown on there hours before. He checked his phone for the first time that night, and saw a text from his dad.

 **dadicus finch** good night baby! i love you!

Donghyuck smiled at the photo his dad had attached, a selfie in his pajamas, then snapped a quick picture of himself and sent a reply.

good night, i love you the most<3

 

 

Donghyuck, surprisingly, had been one of those kids who cried when his parents dropped him off at kindergarten. He was social as a baby, but he’d always been with at least one of his parents, and he liked it that way. His parents were safe. He could trust them. The big-eyed kid with the goofy smile and missing front tooth? Donghyuck couldn’t trust him.

Still, over a long day and a table covered in legos, the two boys became friends, and Donghyuck’s first words when his mom came to pick him up at the end of the day were, “Can Jaemin come over?”

Since then, in the twelve years they knew each other, Donghyuck couldn’t think of a single day that passed in which he didn’t at least talk to Jaemin. Not when they hated each other for a full week freshman year because they both liked the same boy. Not even when Jaemin’s parents took him camping in fourth grade, because Jaemin had insisted on Donghyuck coming, too. And not when Donghyuck had to skip finishing his seventh grade science homework one night because his mom was in the hospital for what would be the last time ever.

Jaemin had been there for everything. He’d been there for the painful week during which she was in the hospital and no one — Donghyuck or Donghyuck’s dad — knew what was going on. He’d been there for the diagnosis: Stage II ovarian cancer. He’d been there for the recovery, for the sweet, blissful months during which Donghyuck was high off the relief of knowing his mom would live. He’d been there for his coming out, had held Donghyuck’s hand and waited on his porch while Donghyuck went inside to tell his mom, and eventually his dad, that he was gay. And he’d been there for the accident.

It was amazing, really, the sense Jaemin had when it came to Donghyuck and vice versa. Donghyuck swore he could tell when something was wrong with Jaemin, even if they weren’t together. That day, there was no way Jaemin could have known what had happened. Donghyuck and his parents, they were the only people they had, and that night, Donghyuck’s dad was in hysterics and Donghyuck was so, so numb. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He’d thought she was invincible, she’d _beat cancer_.

A police officer relayed the details to Donghyuck’s dad, who had been clutching Donghyuck’s hand so tight it started to hurt. Two other people had died in the crash, a man and his seventeen-year-old daughter. The other driver had swerved to avoid hitting a deer and lost control. It was no one’s fault, Donghyuck had to remind himself constantly. It was no one’s fault.

And so, when Jaemin came over the next day and Donghyuck answered the door with swollen eyes and not a single word on his tongue, Jaemin knew enough. Donghyuck had broken, shattered like the bloody glass strewn across that intersection, and Jaemin had arrived to pick up the pieces and mend them back together.

 

 

Donghyuck woke up on Renjun’s couch feeling nauseous.

It was early morning, the sun just having risen, peeking through the gaps between the dead leaves on the trees. The only other boy awake was Chenle, who was scrolling through his phone idly while Renjun snored into his back. On the other side of the living room, Jaemin was sprawled across his couch with a leg thrown over the side and his blanket bunched up on the floor.

When Donghyuck sat up, Chenle said, “Good morning.”

Donghyuck swallowed, and with it another strong wave of nausea swirled in his gut. “I think I’m gonna head home early, I feel like shit.”

For a second, the look on Chenle’s face looked something like worry, and Donghyuck had to wonder if Jaemin had told him anything. But he must have decided the thought was something to pursue another time, because in the end he just nodded and said, “Let’s at least eat first.”

They raided Renjun’s fridge before settling for the box of blueberry poptarts sitting on the counter. They ate in silence, side-by-side at Renjun’s kitchen table. It was nice, the feeling of knowing that someone cares, that someone could acknowledge him, basically saying _I know you’re in pain_ without doing anything other than being there with him. Sometimes that was all Donghyuck needed, someone to be there.

After Donghyuck gathered his things and put on his shoes, Chenle hugged him.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he whispered, Renjun and Jaemin still asleep, “but you can always talk to me okay? Or just come over and we can play Smash. Whatever you need.”

Donghyuck nodded. He had no idea what he’d done to deserve his friends.

It was getting to that time of year when days were warm and nights were cold. That morning in particular was unusually cold; the heat in his car was broken, so Donghyuck pulled his sleeves over his hands so he wouldn’t have to touch his steering wheel.

He didn’t want to go home right away, so he passed his house and continued on the road straight to the park. Luckily, he still had his winter coat shoved into his trunk from the past winter, so he threw that on over his hoodie. The morning frost hadn’t completely melted yet, so the grass still crunched under Donghyuck’s shoes. He kept walking until he reached the flower patch, where some of the tulips were wilting.

“Hi Mom,” he said.

“Donghyuck?”

“What the fuck,” Donghyuck said under his breath, turning toward the voice to see who it was: “Mark Lee.”

“Hi,” Mark said.

Donghyuck took note of the older boy, who looked… _different_ , wearing just a white t-shirt and sweats. “No blazer?”

Mark Lee rolled his eyes. “What are you doing out here so early?”

“What are _you_ doing out here so early? Stalking me?”

“I was going for a run,” Mark said defensively. “I live, like, ten minutes away.”

“Good for you, I guess. Working out and shit.” No, no, no. Donghyuck was _not_ supposed to blush, not because of Mark Lee and his sweaty neck and mussed-up hair and—

“Do you wanna get breakfast?”

Donghyuck was taken aback. “With you?”

Mark looked around the park like he was looking for anyone else Donghyuck could be talking about. “Yeah?”

Donghyuck thought. “Are you paying?”

“Yes, Donghyuck, I’m paying.”

 

“I carry my card and ID in my phone while I’m running just in case I wanna grab a coffee or something afterward,” Mark explained as they walked through the doors of iHop.

“As long as I get my free food, I don’t give a shit if you stole your debit card from the fucking governor,” Donghyuck said, approaching the hostess. “Two, please.”

While they followed the hostess, Donghyuck suddenly felt a breath by his ear, and an involuntary shiver raked down his spine. “So you _do_ have manners, huh?”

Donghyuck threw Mark a weak glare over his shoulder, but his retort was interrupted when the hostess stopped and seated them at a booth.

“Is this okay?”

 _No_ , Donghyuck wanted to tell her. It was not okay. He went to the park to talk to his mom but ended up at fucking iHop with fucking Mark Lee, who was supposed to be his fake boyfriend, and Donghyuck couldn’t believe he actually agreed to the charade in the first place. Was this the beginning of his breakdown? Was Mark Lee just a pawn in Donghyuck’s spiral into madness? Donghyuck couldn’t know.

 

Mark was staring.

“Stop staring at me,” Donghyuck snapped around half a mouthful of eggs, hoping the hand holding his fork was enough to hide his flushed face. “Creep.”

“You’re being so weird today,” Mark said matter-of-factly as he returned to his blueberry pancakes. “Kind of like how you were at Lucas’s party.”

Donghyuck stabbed his fork into a link of sausage while imagining it was Mark’s foot.

“ _Don’t_ bring up the party,” Donghyuck said.

“Right,” Mark said after he swallowed his food. “We’re pretending that didn’t happen.”

“Pretending what didn’t happen?”

Mark shook his head and just kept eating his food. They fell into silence, and Donghyuck sighed; he liked it better when he got an actual reaction out of Mark, when the two could bicker back and forth. He stared down at his own plate and sipped his iced coffee through a straw while he watched Mark eat through his eyelashes, quietly admiring the way the cotton fabric of Mark’s t-shirt had to stretch to accommodate his shoulders. He followed the broad line of Mark’s shoulders down to his biceps, his forearms, his hands—

“Who’s the creep now?” Mark said, startling Donghyuck into looking back up, where he caught a full view of the shit-eating smirk on his face.

Donghyuck scowled, dropped his glass back on the table, and started to push himself out of the booth. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

The iHop bathroom was disgusting. His shoes wanted to stick to the floor, crumpled paper towels spilled out of the garbage, and toilet paper littered the stalls. Donghyuck sighed and leaned against the wall next to the towel dispenser and tried to will away the nausea still sitting in his stomach. He shot off a quick text to Chenle, who was probably expecting an “I’m home” text, and told the younger boy Mark had taken him to breakfast. The response was quick:

 **chenle** omgggg mark!!!!! have fun ;)

Donghyuck didn’t know _why_ , but maybe it was just a culmination of his dad’s new relationship, his mom, Mark, and lying to his friends, but when the tears started falling, they wouldn’t stop. He felt pathetic, crying in an iHop bathroom while he was out with his fake boyfriend who he hated and who hated him and who looked way better than Donghyuck’s sad, disheveled, exhausted self.

The bathroom door opened, and Donghyuck tried to gather his wits about himself, turning away and rubbing his face dry with his sleeves. The last thing he needed was some random stranger bearing witness to the Donghyuck’s emotional breakdown.

“Donghyuck, are you in—Donghyuck?”

Of fucking course it was Mark Lee, coming to check on him like they were fucking _friends_. Donghyuck didn’t say anything, hoping if he was unresponsive, Mark would just leave. As if Donghyuck would be that lucky.

“Are you good?” Mark came closer, his shadow moving over Donghyuck. “Whoa, are you crying?”

“No,” Donghyuck bit out, “my eyes are just leaking.”

Mark came into Donghyuck’s space, and Donghyuck hated that all he could see in Mark’s eyes was worry. “Did something happen? Is it because of me? I didn’t mean what I said.”

Donghyuck tried to scoff, but the sound came out gargled. “Not everything is about you, Christ. You’re so conceited.”

“How are you insulting me while snot is running down your nose?”

“What can I say, I’m multi-talented.” Donghyuck grabbed a paper towel and paused before blowing his nose. “Don’t fucking look at me.”

Mark sighed and turned around, facing the stalls. Satisfied that Mark wasn’t going to turn back around and watch Donghyuck be ugly and blow his nose, Donghyuck blew into the paper towel.

“Are you done?” Mark peeked over his shoulder, but Donghyuck only glowered at him. “Um. I’m not really sure what just happened, but obviously you’re going through something right now.”

“Well, thanks for noticing, but I’m not really interested in talking to you about my problems.”

“I didn’t think you would be? But you can. If you ever change your mind. I kinda owe you, anyway.” When Donghyuck didn’t say anything, too busy trying to untangle the exact meaning behind Mark’s words, Mark said, “We should probably get back. Before they think we dined and dashed.”

 

When Mark walked Donghyuck back to his car, Donghyuck didn’t get in right away. Was he supposed to offer Mark a ride home? He’d been out on a run, which meant they probably weren’t that close to wherever he lived. More importantly, was Mark expecting a ride?

As if reading Donghyuck’s thoughts, Mark said, “I can walk home. You have a good weekend, Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck watched Mark start to walk away, letting Mark get half a block away before shouting, “Wait! Mark!”

The unexpecting look on Mark’s face almost made Donghyuck laugh.

“Do you want a ride?”

Mark looked at his watch, then back at Donghyuck, unblinking. “Yeah. Sure.”

 

Donghyuck drove a beat-up 2003 Honda Civic, an ugly contrast from Mark’s much newer Camry. Donghyuck still had a dent in his back bumper from when he let Renjun drive and the other boy backed it straight into Jaemin’s mailbox, and there was a dubious stain all over the backseat from the time Chenle and Renjun got into a fight involving two cherry Pepsi Icees on the way back from a movie.

“Your car’s nice.”

Donghyuck snorted and raised his eyebrow as he glanced at Mark out of the corner of his eye. “Yeah, right.”

Mark quirked a dumb smile. “Just being nice.”

“Well, stop.” Donghyuck started the engine and turned on the radio so they wouldn’t be stuck in some awkward silence. “Sorry if it’s cold. The heat’s broken.”

“It’s fine.” Mark rubbed his hands on his thighs, his fingers tapping along to the radio, some EDM song Donghyuck hadn’t heard before, wasn’t his style. “So… the park?”

When Donghyuck shot Mark a warning look while he pulled out of the parking space, Mark backtracked. “Right, sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”

And Donghyuck didn’t plan on answering. He barely knew Mark beyond hating him, he didn’t need to tell Mark his sob story, of all people. He especially didn’t need Mark’s pity or sympathy or empathy or whatever other feeling Mark could conjure up. But now the mood was _awkward_ , and Donghyuck wasn’t used to awkward. Awkward made him say stupid things without thinking first, like “Mark Lee and I are dating” and—

“Wanna make out?”

Next to him, Mark made a wet choking noise, and even Donghyuck had to flinch.

“Uh,” Donghyuck said, his hands fidgeting on the steering wheel at a red light, “I didn’t mean to say that. Unless…”

He met Mark’s for a moment, noticed the tense line of Mark’s shoulders and white knuckles on his sweatpants, missing the light turn green until the car behind him blew their horn.

“Pull over,” Mark said.

“Pulling over.”

Donghyuck took the next right into a nice but quiet neighborhood and drove to the end, parking his car in the cul-de-sac. He wasn’t sure if anyone in the nearby houses were home, but Mark was already climbing over the center console and sloppily connecting their lips before he could check, so all he could do was hope they wouldn’t be seen as he fisted his hands into the hem of Mark’s shirt.

Mark pushed the seat back so he could fully sit across Donghyuck’s thighs, one hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder and the other in his hair, his touch overwhelmingly gentle. His lips moved slowly against Donghyuck’s for a moment before he pulled away, making Donghyuck embarrass himself by tightening his fist in Mark’s shirt and trying to reel him back in. Mark smiled down at him, cradling Donghyuck’s cheeks in both hands and setting Donghyuck’s face aflame.

“You’re so pretty, Donghyuck. But you’re still annoying.”

Donghyuck stared up at Mark, dumbstruck, wondering if he’d heard him correctly as Mark’s thumb stroked over his cheek. “Um, thanks?” he said, though the words were muffled against Mark’s mouth when Mark leaned down to kiss him again.

Feeling bold, Donghyuck let his hands roam over Mark, up his torso and down his arms. He felt the strong muscle in Mark’s biceps, giving them a tentative squeeze then groaning into Mark’s mouth. “I hate you so much.”

Mark kissed playfully down Donghyuck’s jaw. “I hate you more.”

It baffled Donghyuck that they were really doing this. “You say I’m annoying but you wear _khakis_ to school.”

Mark smiled into Donghyuck’s neck briefly before biting the junction between Donghyuck’s neck and shoulder, and Donghyuck sucked in a breath as he tilted his head back.

“You’re such a bad kisser.”

“I can’t fucking stand you.”

“Can’t stand me, huh? Is that why you’re cannibalizing me instead?”

Mark laughed, then gave the side of Donghyuck’s neck a lick, making Donghyuck yelp. “You taste good.”

“Weirdo!”

And Mark laughed again, a loud, unabashed sound that if Donghyuck knew any better he would call _pretty_. Donghyuck was wiping his neck with the back of his hand when Mark started leaning back in, but the kiss never came.

“Shit!” Mark was saying, crawling back into the passenger seat before Donghyuck even knew what was happening, leaving Donghyuck stupidly chasing Mark’s lips after they were long gone.

“Why’d you stop?” Donghyuck said, hating the way his voice broke into a whine.

“That’s Dr. Seo!” Mark hissed, nodding his head toward the driver side window. Donghyuck followed his line of sight and didn’t see anyone at first, but then farther back, more behind the car than to the side of it, was Dr. Seo, taking his garbage out to the curb.

“I think he saw me,” Mark whispered as if their principal could hear them. “We made eye contact right after I, uh, licked you.”

“Great,” Donghyuck said. “Not only did he see us making out, but he saw you mark me with your saliva.”

Mark sunk down into the seat, putting his face in his hands. “I can never show my face to him ever again. I have to quit student council.”

“You’re so dramatic, he already thinks we’re dating.”

“This is so embarrassing!”

That stung. “Well, sorry for ruining your good boy rep or whatever.”

“That’s — hey, that’s not what I meant.”

“Whatever. Where do you live?” Donghyuck knew he was being petty. He couldn’t help it.

“Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck started the car. “I wanna go home already. Where do you live?”

Mark gave up, catching up on Donghyuck’s quickly souring mood. Donghyuck felt bad for making Mark feel bad when he knew, under the pettiness, that he wasn’t being fair. He turned on the radio and kept it on throughout the duration of the short drive to Mark’s house.

“Bye, Donghyuck,” Mark said softly when they got to Mark’s house.

“Bye,” Donghyuck said unintentionally curt, then added, “Thanks for breakfast.”

“No problem. I’ll see you at school?”

“Yep.”

Donghyuck waited until he watched Mark make his way up the driveway and into the house, then pulled back onto the main road. He paused at the intersection; he wasn’t sure if he was ready to go home yet. Kissing Mark Lee filled his head with cotton, and he was still trying to avoid _the talk_ with his dad. The Boyfriend talk.

Making the turn in the opposite direction of home, Donghyuck reflected on how sad it was that his first “boyfriend” was Mark Lee, and they weren’t even dating. He hadn’t been Donghyuck’s first kiss by far — thank god — but he was the first he’d ever called his boyfriend. And to make things worse, Mark Lee was _embarrassed_ to be with Donghyuck. One of the reasons they put on their charade was because Donghyuck was “scary,” whatever that meant. Donghyuck didn’t think he was scary. Did Mark think he was scary? Did Donghyuck want Mark to think he was scary?

He had Jaemin on speed-dial.

“Do you think I’m scary?” he asked as soon as Jaemin picked up.

“Uh, what?”

Donghyuck put his phone on speaker and into one of his cupholders. “Am I, like, intimidating?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Just answer, please?”

“No, I don’t think you’re scary. You’re literally my best friend.”

“Okay, well, I consider Renjun one of my best friends, but he’s still scary.”

“No he’s not. He’s cute.”

“And scary.”

Jaemin sighed. “Dude, are you okay? You’re being weird.”

“I’m not,” Donghyuck said defensively, even though he knew he was definitely being weird. “I’m just asking a question.”

“Why do you suddenly care if you’re scary or not?” Jaemin paused long enough to let Donghyuck think about it, but then said cautiously, “Does this have something to do with Mark Lee?”

The world was giving Donghyuck a chance to tell Jaemin about his deal with Mark, and he knew he should take it. He needed someone to share it with that wasn’t Mark, or he’d go crazy. Jaemin could pretend, he thought. Jaemin was in theatre. If Donghyuck could pull off the act, then so could Jaemin.

“Mark and I aren’t dating,” Donghyuck blurted.

Silence on the other line.

“We’re dating but not really. The guys on the tennis team have been harassing him or something, I guess he thinks I’ll scare them. But it’s not like, charity work. He’s buying me food. He paid for my lunch like, every day this week.”

Donghyuck wasn’t sure what to expect from Jaemin. He’d never kept anything from him before, let alone for almost a week. He knew if it were the other way around, he’d get mad at Jaemin for lying to him.

After only half a minute, Jaemin spoke. “Huh. That makes sense.”

“Makes sense? What does that mean?”

“You’ve were acting weird about Mark. Renjun and I suspected something was up, but he didn’t want to push you.”

Of course Jaemin and Renjun noticed. “ _Please_ don’t tell Renjun. Or Chenle. It’s embarrassing.”

“I won’t.” Jaemin hummed. “Anyway. I don’t think you’re scary, but I guess I can see why someone like Mark Lee would think you are. You’re a loud gay.”

In the background, a distant female voice called Jaemin’s name, and Jaemin shouted back an okay.

“I gotta go, Hyuck. Auntie needs me to do laundry. I’ll text you later, okay? Let’s hang out tomorrow.”

Donghyuck sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you,” he said, waiting for Jaemin’s goodbye before hanging up and sagging against his seat.

 

The park.

Because the odds that Mark Lee was back outside, jogging in Donghyuck’s park again were, logically, zero to none, Donghyuck made his way there. The walk to the flower patch was muscle memory by now, or maybe it was divinity.

He didn’t feel like talking anymore. He couldn’t muster up the energy to talk, sitting beside the red and yellow tulips with his knees drawn up to his chest as a chill pricked the nape of his neck and he realized their little flower patch was nearing the end of its life this year. But he could imagine his mom sitting next to him, carding her delicate fingers through his hair, humming an old song.

The grass tickled the tips of his ears as he lay down beside the flowers.

 

When he pulled into the driveway a few hours later, there was a third car parked next to his dad’s, a nice, black Jeep Cherokee. It looked out of place, a new SUV on their street of early 2000s cars. Donghyuck hadn’t imagined his dad dating an upper-middle class suburban guy, didn’t think that was his taste. Then again, the only frame of reference Donghyuck had in that area of his dad’s life was his mother.

Donghyuck parked behind his dad’s car so he wouldn’t block the guy in. Getting out of his car with his backpack, he made sure to slam his door a little harder than necessary so his dad would know he was home.

The house smelled like lasagna. His dad made pasta when he was nervous, and lasagna was his favorite. Something about it being a pasta cake, Donghyuck remembered his dad telling him. Nowadays, the smell had a sort of Pavlovian pull on Donghyuck, anxiety already settling in his stomach as he stepped through the threshold.

“Donghyuck?” his dad called from the kitchen. Donghyuck could hear the nerves in his voice.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Donghyuck said.

“Good, you’re home!” his dad said, a sigh in his voice. Donghyuck met him in the kitchen with a hug. “How was Renjun’s?”

Donghyuck shrugged. “It was fun. We mostly just watched TV. Went to bed early. How was your night?”

“Without you? Boring,” his dad said sheepishly. He looked down at the oven and gestured at it awkwardly. “Just waiting for it to finish baking. Oh, you probably saw, but Johnny is here. He’s in the bathroom right now.”

 _Johnny_. Donghyuck didn’t want to judge the guy solely by his name, but he couldn’t help but inwardly snort at how backwoods the name was. He settled for a nod. “Cool. I’m just gonna go put my stuff in my room.” He turned out of the kitchen, meaning to circle back to the stairs, but came to a halt in the doorway connecting the kitchen and the hallway when he saw who came out of the bathroom.

“Oh. Hi, Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck blinked. “You’re joking.” He looked at his dad, who was standing a few feet behind him, biting his lip, eyes darting back and forth between Donghyuck and his apparent boyfriend, Dr. Seo. “Dad. This is a joke. Tell me you’re joking.”

His dad cleared his throat, glancing nervously down at the floor. “Donghyuck, this is Johnny. You’ve met before, obviously.” He chuckled, then swallowed. “We’ve been seeing each other for a while now.”

Donghyuck blanched. “ _Before_ Mark and I were—” He stopped himself before he could say whatever came next. Since before he and Mark were in Seo’s office? Since before he and Mark were “dating”? Regardless, as if the whole ordeal hadn’t been embarrassing enough, finding out that Dr. Seo was his dad’s _boyfriend_ that whole time filled his stomach with shame.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before,” his dad said, and at least he had the decency to sound guilty, “but I thought it would make things more awkward if I introduced you like this earlier and then things between John and I didn’t work out.”

If they didn’t work out. “So, this ‘thing.’” Donghyuck gestured between his dad and Dr. Seo, looking up and down his principal, who was nicely but more casually dressed than usual in a navy cashmere sweater and jeans . “This is like, serious.”

“Well, yeah,” his dad said, wringing his knuckles. “I lo—”

“Then let’s eat!” Donghyuck rushed to say before his dad could say the _L-word_. He pushed past his father and to the oven, where he knew the lasagna had to be ready by now. While he took out the dish with an oven glove, he said to Dr. Seo, who was still standing in the hallway with a dumb look on his dumb face, “Well? Make yourself useful and set the table.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah so this chapter ended up being super long so i split it into 2 parts! the next part shouldn't take as long hopefully:( happy march!


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